|
|
Milan put some pressure on Juve as they beat Lazio.
AC Milan jumped to second place in Serie A after two penalties from Croatian Zvonimir Boban gave them a 2-1 win over title rivals Lazio at the San Siro stadium on Sunday. Juventus stay three points clear at the top after Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick in their 4-1 win at Venezia. Inter Milan stay in fifth place after they won 3-1 at Piacenza, French defender Laurent Blanc scoring twice. Juventus have 47 points from 22 games, AC Milan 44, Lazio 43 and AS Roma, who beat Fiorentina 4-0 on Saturday, 42. Milan took the lead in the 38th minute when Paolo Negro was judged to have handled as he rose with striker Oliver Bierhoff to challenge for a cross and Boban converted the penalty. On the stroke of halftime Boban extended Milan's lead, again from the spot, after Lazio goalkeeper Luca Marchegiani brought down Massimo Ambrosini as the Milan midfielder raced on to a loose ball. Milan, playing at a high pace, came close to adding a third in the 63rd minute when Demetrio Albertini robbed Nestor Sensini on the edge of the Lazio penalty area and fed Andriy Shevchenko but the Ukranian's low shot struck the post. Lazio got a glimmer of hope with seven minutes remaining when substitute Simone Inzaghi spotted Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati out of position and placed a shot into the bottom corner from 20 metres out. In a frenetic end to the game Marchegiani pulled off a superb double-save to foil Oliver Bierhoff headers and at the other end Lazio put Milan under intense pressure but were unable to find a breakthrough. The only sour note for Milan was the sending off of midfielder Massimo Ambrosini for a second bookable offence in injury time. Juve took the lead in the 35th minute when Filippo Inzaghi was adjudged to have been pushed in the penalty area by Venezia's Giuseppe Cardone and Alessandro Del Piero coolly converted the spot-kick. With Zinedine Zidane controlling the game, Juventus never looked in danger, but it was not until the 79th minute that they extended their lead when Inzaghi robbed a hesitant Fabio Balica, rounded Venezia goalkeeper Fabrizio Casazza and slotted into the empty goal. Inzaghi, who has been criticised for his performances and lack of goals of late, added his second and Juve's third 10 minutes later after he saw his shot parried by Casazza and he pounced to knock the loose ball home. He completed his hat-trick with a close range finish in injury time after good work from substitute Juan Esnaider. Inter Milan stay fifth after their win in a match which turned on the dismissal of Piacenza defender Daniele Dalli Carri in the 77th minute. Inter took the lead in the 20th minute through Blanc's first goal since his move to Italy but Piacenza pulled level in the 69th when Delli Carri headed in a corner. Delle Carri then saw red and just two minutes later Blanc restored Inter's lead with a header from an Alvaro Recoba corner. Christian Vieri confirmed Inter's win with the third goal two minutes from time. Parma suffered their seventh game without a win and had Dino Baggio sent off for the second time since New Year as they surrendered a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 at lowly Verona. Udinese boosted their hopes of qualifying again for the UEFA Cup with an emphatic 5-1 win over Bari, four of their goals coming in a superb first half performance. Giuseppe Signori gave Bologna a first-half lead at Lecce with a trademark free-kick from the edge of the penalty area but Lecce replied shortly afterwards through Cristiano Lucarelli's 12th goal of the season. |
Click here for latest transfer news
|
|
