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Roma wins derby Atalanta, Juventus win on the road, stay in second place
Updated: Sunday December 17, 2000 6:08 PM
ROME (AP) -- An own goal by Lazio defender Paolo Negro gave AS Roma a 1-0 victory in the Roman derby Sunday, leaving Roma atop the Serie A standings and possibly pushing Lazio out of contention for the league title. In a midfield battle, with almost no scoring chances on both sides, it was a lucky strike to decide the big match of Week 11. Negro deflected the ball into Lazio's net in the 70th minute as his teammate Alessandro Nesta tried to clear the ball from the line. The ball was bouncing close to the line following a header by Roma's midfielder Cristiano Zanetti that keeper Angelo Peruzzi slapped but could not stop. The ninth season win vaulted AS Roma to 28 points, six ahead of Juventus and Atalanta which were tied in second place at 22. AC Milan, which was held to a 1-1 draw by Verona, comes next with 19 points. Lazio, the defending league champion, slipped 10 points behind the standings leader. The third season loss, which added to Tuesday's elimination from the Italian Cup, was expected to touch off a new wave of criticism against Lazio's Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. Eriksson's decision to leave the team at the end of the current season to become England's coach was cited by some critics as the main reason for Lazio's mixed results, a charge he denied. The match, in the soldout Olympic stadium, featured a duel between Argentine strikers Gabriel Batistuta and Hernan Crespo. Both failed to shine. Batistuta, the leading league scorer who has tallied almost half of Roma's total goals so far, had just one chance, in the 66th when his powerful free kick was saved by Peruzzi. Lazio had its best opportunity in the 75th when a long distance left drive by Pavel Nedved hit the bar and bounced back into the field. Roma will have another demanding test in the next round Friday, when it plays host to second-place Juventus. Powerhouse Juventus and Serie A Cinderella Atalanta won on the road against Lecce and Bologna in Sunday's league action to stay tied at an unchanged distance from Roma. Juventus trashed underdog Lecce 4-1 as the home team was one player down for 50 minutes. Atalanta, a Serie A newcomer flying unexpectedly high in the first division, fought to a 1-0 win at Bologna behind a late goal by veteran striker Maurizio Ganz. Both Juventus and the team from Bergamo improved their records to 6-4-1 for 22 points in the table. In other Sunday's matches AC Milan was held to a 1-1 draw at Verona; Fiorentina defeated Udinese 3-1 for its first season victory on the road; Vicenza stunned Parma 2-0; Internazionale played to a dull scoreless draw with Brescia at San Siro. At Lecce Del Mare arena, striker Filippo Inzaghi ended his long scoring drought kicking in Juventus' opening goal in the 12th minute. Inzaghi, returning to the starting lineup following two consecutive matches on the substitutes bench, was fed by French teammate Zinedine Zidane, the FIFA player of the year. Trezeguet, the French national team striker who sank Italy in the European Championship finals this year, made it two in the 27th minute. The French forward and Inzaghi had been seldom started together as coach Carlo Ancelotti usually privileged imaginative Alessandro Del Piero, who is currently sidelined with a strained leg. Second-half substitutes Darko Kovacevic and Gianluca Zambrotta added two goals in the closing minutes. Lecce played 10 against 11 from the 40th when defender David Balleri was ejected for overly protesting the referee's decisions. It was the fifth season loss for the southern team which got its only goal from midfielder Rodolfo Giorgetti in the 71st. At Verona, a field that was sometimes fatal to its title hopes, AC Milan ended a winning five-match streak and had to settle with a draw. Verona's striker Emiliano Bonazzoli put the home team in front after four minutes kicking in a rebound following an action started in dubious offside. Midfielder Massimo Ambrosini headed in the equalizer in the 22nd. As Ukrainian star-striker Andriy Shevchenko wasted two clear second-half scoring chances, the Milan team only pocketed one point for a total of 19 in the table. At Parma, young striker Luca Toni scored two second-half goals to give Vicenza its third season win while causing Parma a second consecutive defeat. The team of Parma, defeated by Juventus in the previous round, possibly slipped out of contention for the title as it was left with 17 points in a tie with Bologna and Fiorentina. The Florentine team of Turkish coach Fatih Terim allowed an early goal at Udine, by Danish midfielder Martin Jorgensen. A powerful left-foot diagonal shot by Italian striker Enrico Chiesa tied the score in the 38th. In the second half, an own goal by defender Andrea Sottil and one goal by Portuguese star Rui Costa within three minutes gave Fiorentina a 3-1 victory. At Bologna, both the home team and Atalanta spoiled scoring chances prior to the game winner by Ganz in the 84th minute. At Milan, Inter fans jeered home players as they failed to overcome underdog Brescia. The fourth season draw (3-4-4) slipped Internazionale to tenth place, with 13 points. Striker Christian Vieri missed some good opportunities and Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba hit the post for the home side. There were insults but no violence at San Siro. In occasion of an Italian Cup match last Thursday a molotov-cocktail bomb was hurled at the motorcoach taking Inter players to the stadium. Police could not immediately identify the attackers.
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