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Batistuta scores, weeps Goal against former team puts Roma clear atop Serie A
Updated: Sunday November 26, 2000 5:38 PM
ROME (Reuters) -- Gabriel Batistuta scored a superb late winner against his former paymasters Fiorentina to give AS Roma a 1-0 victory that took the side three points clear at the top of the Italian first division on Sunday. The Argentine striker, who moved to Roma in the summer after nine turbulent but successful seasons at the Florence club, crashed home a crisp right foot volley from 25 meters in the 83rd minute to resolve a tense match at the Olympic stadium. The Argentine striker refused to celebrate his goal against the club for whom he scored 168 goals. He ran over to the 3,000 visiting fans at the end of the match and applauded them before leaving the Olympic Stadium in tears at the end of an emotional night. Batistuta's goal gave Roma its seventh win from eight league outings and took the side on to 21 points, three clear of second-placed Atalanta Bergamo and six ahead of the Juventus, the next-best placed of the big guns in Serie A. Elsewhere, French teammates David Trezeguet and Zinedine Zidane were Juventus' marksmen in a 2-1 victory over Verona in the Italian first division on Sunday, while champion Lazio lost 2-0 at Parma. Trezeguet, drafted in to replace out-of-form Alessandro Del Piero, put Juventus ahead with a towering header from an Alessandro Birindelli cross from the right in the 37th minute. Juve, whose defeat at Verona last season triggered the collapse of its title challenge, continued to control the match, and Zidane sealed the victory with a trademark, curling free kick in the 74th minute. Verona grabbed a consolation goal through Adailton two minutes from time, but Juve never looked in danger of letting slip three points that lifted them to fifth in the table. "I have four strikers, and they're all very good. I'll decide who plays in the starting line-up on a week-by-week basis," Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti said when asked if the impressive Trezeguet would now replace Del Piero as his lead striker.
Lazio went down to its second defeat of the league season thanks to a goal from their former midfielder Sergio Conceicao in the 10th minute and a late second from Frenchman Sabri Lamouchi. The Rome side, which had a Fabrizio Ravanelli equalizer ruled out for offside in the second half, was reduced to 10 men in the 86th minute when Conceicao's Portuguese team mate Fernando Couto was sent off. Sven Goran Eriksson's side has now lost four times in league and cup this season and slipped to eighth, six points behind leader and arch-rival AS Roma, which can go three points clear of the pack if it beats Fiorentina in the late match. Udinese squandered a chance to go above Roma when it lost 2-1 at bottom club Bari. Inter Milan was held 0-0 at Vicenza and had Slovak defender Vratislav Gresko sent off in the second half for a second bookable offence. Reggina's home match against Brescia was abandoned in the 84th minute because of crowd trouble. Reggina fans threw flares, staves, fruit and plastic water bottles on to the pitch after Brescia went 2-0, up and the match was halted for four minutes. Brescia scored a third goal shortly after the restart and again Reggina fans hurled objects from the terraces. Riot police intervened and Pierluigi Collina, the most respected referee in Italy, abandoned the match and led the teams to the dressing rooms. It was unclear if the 3-0 scoreline would stand, but Brescia appears certain to be awarded three points. AC Milan beat Napoli 1-0 on Saturday and Atalanta Bergamo, embroiled in a match-fixing scandal related to its Italian Cup campaign, beat Lecce by the same scoreline to move into second. Lazio fans protest future England coachSven-Goran Eriksson, the Swedish coach who led Lazio to its first league title in 26 years, on Sunday faced protests by groups of fans angered by the second season loss of the Roman team. "Eriksson, get out of here," read a stripe displayed by some Lazio fans at Tardini stadium, where the defending league champion lost 2-0 to Parma. Lazio, with only two points in its last three league matches, is slipping from the leading places, and its difficult moment coincides with Eriksson's decision to leave Rome to become England's coach at the end of the current campaign. Eriksson said he did not see the protest stripe. "In any case, problems of the team are others than the fans' protest," the Swedish coach said. "We have been unlucky, and lacked concentration in key moments of the match," Eriksson said. Lazio's problems were also due to the absence of two injured key players -- Argentine stars Claudio Lopez and Juan Sebastian Veron. On the eve of the match, Lazio's president Sergio Cragnotti reaffirmed his confidence about qualities of Eriksson and the team despite some recent slips, including a Champions League loss to Anderlecht. As some Italian media kept suggesting that Eriksson may be released by Lazio before the end of the season, the coach said in a recent interview he wanted to stay with Lazio through the end of his contract in June "because I want to win again with this team." Match ReportsPlayed Sunday Bari 2 Udinese 1 Bari's first win since May 7 thwarted Udinese's attempt to go top. South African striker Phil Masinga scored two close-range goals after coming on as a second half substitute. Argentina's Roberto Carlos Sosa scored a consolation headed goal in injury time. - - - - Juventus 2 Verona 1 A French double gave Juventus a vital win and coach Carlo Ancelotti some respite. David Trezeguet scored the first with a first-half header before Zinedine Zidane curled home a beautiful free kick from 25 meters. Brazilian Adailton pulled one back but Juve held on to go fifth. - - - - Parma 2 Lazio 0 Lazio's second defeat in five days and its second in the league this season saw the team slump to eighth. Its former midfielder Sergio Conceicao scored a classy opener and Sabri Lamouchi added a late second. Lazio's Fernando Couto was unlucky to be sent off for what appeared a fair challenge on Diego Fuser. - - - - Perugia 1 Bologna 3 Bologna had wrapped up an impressive away win by halftime thanks to a fortunate deflected strike from Giovanni Bia after two minutes and a diving header from Thomas Locatelli. They scored a third straight after the break, the win taking them to fourth in the table. - - - - Reggina 0 Brescia 3 Crowd trouble caused the abandonment of this bottom-of-the-table clash six minutes from time after Brescia went 3-0 up. Police intervened to stop Reggina fans hurling staves, plastic seats and water bottles on to the pitch. Brescia will almost certainly be awarded the victory -- their first of the season. - - - - AS Roma 1 Fiorentina 0 Gabriel Batistuta scored perhaps the most difficult goal of his career against the side he served for nine seasons before his move to Roma in July. The Argentine striker refused to celebrate his 83rd minute strike and left the Olympic Stadium in tears after handing Roma a victory which takes them three points clear at the top. - - - - Vicenza 0 Inter Milan 0 A niggly draw that left Inter still in search of its first away win of the season. Christian Vieri made his first start since May 23 and played his first full 90 minutes since February. Inter's Slovak defender Vratislav Gresko was sent off for a harsh handball decision. - - - - Played Saturday Atalanta 1 Lecce 0 Maurizio Ganz's first league goal for Atalanta was enough to give the Bergamo side a win which lifted them to second behind Roma. Despite losing key players due to suspension relating to a match-fixing scandal Atalanta, promoted last season, is the only unbeaten side in Serie A. - - - - AC Milan 1 Napoli 0 A Massimo Ambrosini header just before halftime gave Milan their first victory at the San Siro since mid-October but Alberto Zaccheroni's injury-hit side was far from convincing. Defender Emanuele Troise struck the bar with a header on the hour for an unlucky Napoli side that is still without a win.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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