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Udinese rules Italy Batistuta's hat trick puts Roma in second place
Updated: Sunday November 05, 2000 4:51 PM
ROME (AP) -- Udinese defeated Lecce 2-0 Sunday to earn an undisputed lead in the Serie A standings, extending the surprising domination of provincial teams in the Italian league. With 13 points from four wins and one draw, the unbeaten team of Udine led AS Roma by one point and Atalanta of Bergamo by two after five rounds. AS Roma, rebounding from a 0-2 upset loss to Internazionale in Week Four, downed Brescia 4-2 behind three goals of its Argentine striker Gabriel Batistuta. The veteran Latin American forward, on his first season with AS Roma, led the leading scorers lists with six goals. Atalanta, which was tied with Udinese prior to Sunday's matches, slipped to third place by holding powerhouse AC Milan to a 3-3 draw at San Siro stadium. Milan, which plays Leeds in a crucial Champions League game Wednesday, rallied from a 1-3 deficit to avoid its third season loss. The other Milan team, Internazionale, was held to a 2-2 draw by Verona which played the entire second half one player down. Vincenzo Italiano, who had given Verona 2-1 lead in the 43rd minute, was expelled by the referee seconds after scoring. By overly celebrating his goal, Italiano received his second caution in three minutes and was sent off. Spanish midfielder Francisco Farinos and Turkish striker Hakan Sukur scored Inter's goals. The match in Verona marked the return to action, from a six month thigh injury, of Italian star-forward Christian Vieri. Vieri was fielded in the second half and showed a good form, hitting the bar with a powerful header in the 69th minute. In other Sunday action, Juventus won 2-0 on the road against Reggina on goals by French striker David Trezeguet; Parma defeated Bari 1-0 on a late goal by Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma; Vicenza defeated Napoli 2-1 in a match between underdogs. On Saturday, defending league champion Lazio defeated Bologna 2-0 to lift itself to 10 points overall, in a tie with Juventus. A hat trick by newly signed Greek forward Zisis Vryzas led Perugia to a 4-3 upset win against Fiorentina. At Friuli stadium in Udine, Argentine striker Roberto Sosa opened the scoring for Udinese in the 65th minute. Venezuelan-born Massimo Margiotta sealed victory for the home team with a precise header five minutes later. Udinese's undisputed leadership in the Serie A was unprecedented in the 90-year history of the north Italian club. Brescia 2, AS Roma 4 Batistuta, who transferred to Roma following nine years with Fiorentina, solved all problems of the Roman team with three second-half goals and an impressive performance. Roma, coming from its first season loss against Inter, was a scared team at halftime, as it trailed Brescia 1-2. Goals by midfielder Pierpaolo Bisoli, from the distance, and by Dario Hubner, on a penalty, reversed Roma's advantage due to a 12th minute offensive raid of French international defender Vicent Candela. Although missing imaginative veteran star Roberto Baggio, Brescia was aggressive but succumbed when Batistuta began his show. The Argentine striker made it 2-2 in the 59th, kicking in a rebound on a shot by Zago. In a replay of the action, in the 77th, Batistuta scored on a rebound from a drive by Cafu. He added another goal in second half injury time to give Roma the fourth season win. Japanese midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata replaced injured Roma's captain Francesco Totti. He hit a post and produced a good performance. One fan was arrested and 25 were taken into custody by riot police following scattered disturbances which broke out after the Brescia-AS Roma match. Officers reported that a Brescia supporter was arrested for resisting police while the others were taken to the police headquarters for being identified. Three policemen were slightly injured in clashes with Brescia fans who were trying to reach buses taking Roman fans away from the Rigamonti stadium. --- AC Milan 3, Atalanta 3 The Milan team appeared done for, down 1-3 at half time as Atalanta's rising star Cristiano Doni scored two goals, one on a penalty, and Fausto Rossini added a third with a header in first-half injury time. German striker Oliver Bierhoff reduced the gap in the 48th and Ukrainian star Andriy Shevchenko tied the score in the 63rd, converting a penalty kick. Brazilian Serginho scored AC Milan's only goal in the first half while his compatriot, defender Julio Cesar, made his debut on the Milan team. AC Milan, a title contender, was left with five points in the bottom half of the standings, 8 points behind league leader Udinese. Minor clashes between groups of fans and policemen were reported at San Siro stadium. --- Reggina 0, Juventus 2 La Juve, downed by Udinese in the previous round, rallied to victory and to a fourth-place tie with Lazio overall behind goals of Trezeguet, who replaced Juventus' No.1 striker Filippo Inzaghi. Trezeguet opened the scoring in the 44th and added another, with a header, in the 61st to cause Reggina's fourth consecutive loss. --- Bari 0, Parma 1 Mboma scored the game winner with a diving header with three minutes left, after Bari's young forward Antonio Cassano missed some good scoring chances for the home team. Mboma, who had scored both goals in the previous 2-0 victory against Milan, helped Parma to climb to 8 points, with consecutive wins after a difficult start. Bari slipped to next to last place. --- Napoli 1, Vicenza 2 A blunder by Napoli's keeper Francesco Mancini, on a long distance shot by Vincenzo Sommese, helped Vicenza's 2-1 win on the road. Napoli's fourth loss left the Neapolitan team in last place. --- Verona 2, Internazionale 2 Inter, trailing 1-2 at halftime, struggled throughout the second period to achieve the equalizer, although playing 11 against 10 for 48 minutes. Sukur, who had scored his first "Italian" goal against AS Roma last Wednesday, added another in the 76th to secure Inter a draw. The Milan team moved to seven points, in a tie with Perugia. Verona was at sixth with Fiorentina and Vicenza.
Sunday's Games
Bari-Parma 0-1 (0-0)
Goalscorers: Parma: Patrick Mboba (87th)
Attendance: 14,000.
Brescia-AS Roma 2-4 (2-1)
Goalscorers: Brescia: PierPaolo Bisoli (22nd); Dario Hubner,
penalty (45h)
AS Roma: Vincent Candela (12th); Gabriel Batistuta (59th, 77th
and 91st)
Attendance: 19,000.
AC Milan-Atalanta 3-3 (1-3)
Goalscorers: AC Milan: Serginho (23rd); Oliver Bierhoff (48th);
Andriy Shevchenko (penalty, 63rd)
Atalanta: Cristiano Doni (21st, penalty 44th); Fausto Rossini
(47th, injury time)
Attendance: 50,000.
Napoli-Vicenza 1-2 (1-1)
Goalscorers: Napoli: Marek Jankulovski (24th)
Vicenza: Vincenzo Sommese (18th, 50th)
Attendance: 35,000.
Reggina-Juventus 0-2 (0-1)
Goalscorers: Juventus: David Trezeguet (44th and 61st)
Attendance: 26,000.
Udinese-Lecce 2-0 (0-0)
Goalscorers: Udinese: Roberto Sosa (65th); Massimo Margiotta
(70th)
Attendance: 18,000
---
Saturday's Games
Fiorentina-Perugia 3-4 (2-2)
Goalscorers: Fiorentina: Angelo Di Livio (23rd); Leandro (46th,
77th)
Perugia: Zisis Vryzas (40th, 50th and 64th); Luca Saudati,
penalty (42nd)
Attendance: 28,000.
Lazio-Bologna 2-0 (1-0)
Goalscorers: Lazio: Pavel Nedved (9th); Hernan Crespo (65th)
Attendance: 45,000.
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