Image:Daniele De Rossi: The midfield maestro had equalised for Roma before the game was abandoned
Heavy rain caused Saturday's evening Serie A game between Catania and Roma in Sicily to be abandoned with the match level at 1-1.
Referee Tagliavento calls game off after 65 minutes
Heavy rain caused Saturday's evening Serie A game between Catania and Roma in Sicily to be abandoned with the match level at 1-1.
Nicola Legrottaglie had given the hosts the lead in the 24th minute as he rose above Juan to head home Francesco Lodi's free-kick.
But midfielder Daniele De Rossi equalised three minutes later for the Capital giants as he was afforded the freedom of the six yard box to head home Francesco Totti's corner.
The match had already been delayed before kick-off due to a torrential downpour, with referee Paolo Tagliavento initially taking the players off the pitch only to return a few minutes later.
But 20 minutes into the second half he called a halt to proceedings after a shot from Bojan Krkic travelled barely five yards before the pitch stopped it dead.
He took the players off the field with the view to seeing if the rain would stop and allow play to be restarted.
And as both sets of players kept themselves warm in the tunnel, the pitch was so waterlogged that the ball would not bounce or roll and the decision was eventually made to abandon the game much to the disappointment of the crowd at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.
Vincenzo Montella had been out for revenge on his former club and Catania went into the game confident of recording an upset.
Meanwile, Jose Enrique's Roma had been in spectacular form coming into the clash, beating Chievo 2-0 in their last league game and Fiorentina 3-0 midweek in the Coppa Italia.
The Italian Football League has yet to announce when the the final 25 minutes of the game will be played, with the possibility of the match being concluded on Sunday.
