|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Roma tops Atalanta Lazio, Parma each lose to strugglers at home
Updated: Monday January 08, 2001 11:11 AM
ROME (AP) -- Playing a man down for the final 23 minutes, AS Roma held on for a gritty 2-0 road win Sunday over third-place Atalanta to extend its Serie A lead to a formidable eight points. Marco Delvecchio scored just 40 seconds after kickoff, notching his first goal of the season and giving Roma all it needed for its 10th win in the Italian league's first 13 games. Roma moves to 32 points, strengthening its grip atop the standings after second place Juventus settled for a home draw on Saturday against Fiorentina. Atalanta, up from Serie B to become Italian soccer's surprise story, dropped its second straight to fall to 6-4-3. Playing on a sloppy field and without its star striker Gabriel Batistuta, Roma turned to others for help in the northern city of Bergamo. Scrappy midfielder Dammiano Tommasi knocked in a loose ball four minutes before the half, and the Roma defense held on after Cristiano Zanetti received his second yellow card in the 67th.
"We showed real character today," said Roma manager Fabio Capello. "We played a great match against difficult opponents who had already caused us problems in the Italian Cup this season." "The standings look good at the moment but there's a long way to go yet." In the feature night game, Oliver Bierhoff's goal with four minutes left lifted AC Milan to a 2-2 draw with crosstown rival Internazionale. After Turkey's Hakun Sukur gave Inter an early 1-0 lead, Croatian midfielder Zvonimir Boban's first goal of the season drew Milan even in the 65th. Inter responded five minutes later when Luigi Di Biagio caught Milan off-guard with a quick free kick from 30 meters (yards) before the defensive wall was set up. Milan (5-5-3) moves into a tie for sixth place with Bologna, 12 points behind the league leaders. Inter moves to 4-5-4. While Roma continues to soar, crosstown rival and defending champion Lazio stumbled again, losing 2-1 to an improving Napoli squad. Just four minutes in, striker Nicola Amoruso gathered in a long lead pass and beat Yugoslav defender Sinisa Mihajlovic and 'keeper Angelo Peruzzi. Giuseppe Pancaro knocked an embarrassing own goal past Peruzzi on a lazy attempt to clear a cross over the end line in the 37th minute. Lazio (6-3-4) was forced to play a man down for the entire second half after Peruzzi was ejected for knocking away a shot with his hands outside the area in the 45th minute. Napoli (3-5-5) has three wins and two draws in its last five games. AC Parma (5-3-5) lost its third straight, falling 2-0 at home to Reggina, which went into the game in last place. Davide Dionigi knocked in two headers for the southern visitors, who move past Bari and Brescia in the standings. It was the first road win of the season for Reggina (3-1-9) AC Milan and Internazionale faced off in the night game for bragging rights in the northern city. In other afternoon action, Perugia beat Udinese 3-1, Bologna knocked off Brescia 1-0 and Lecce beat Verona 4-2. On Saturday, Juventus' Filippo Inzaghi and Fiorentina's Enrico Chiesa each scored twice as the two squads battled to a high-flying 3-3 draw. Juventus (6-6-1) fought back from a two-goal deficit to take the lead in the 57th minute on Inzaghi's second goal in a nine-minute span, a spectacular volley shot off past his national squad teammate Francesco Toldo. But the hosts could not hold the lead, as Chiesa notched his second goal in the 63rd, curving a low, 25-meter (yard) free kick around the defensive wall and into the right corner. Fiorentina (5-6-2) moves into a tie for fourth place with Lazio. In the sole Saturday afternoon game, Giacomo Dicara's header lifted Vicenza to a 1-0 win over Bari. Roma 2, Atalanta 0 At Bergamo, with Argentina's Batistuta nursing a sore right knee, replacement Vincenzo Montella helped set up both Roma goals. Montella's touch pass set up Delvecchio, who knocked a shot into the right corner on the visitor's first attack of the game. And it was the pint-sized forward's charge that created the havoc that allowed Tommasi to convert the squad's second goal. Atalanta fans whistled as several apparent goals were called back for offsides. Milan 2, Inter 2 At Milan, Bierhoff, who hit the post in the fourth minute, knocked in a slashing header off a Federico Giunti cross to earn the draw. Sukur opened the scoring in the 11th minute, timing a running volley shot off a lead pass from Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf. Boban beat French 'keeper Sebestian Frey with the outside of his right foot. Milan players protested Di Biagio's goal, arguing that they were waiting for the referee's whistle when the midfielder struck the ball. Inter star striker Christian Vieri struggled, unable to convert several easy scoring opportunities, including a clear shot in the 70th minute blasted directly at the goalkeeper. Napoli 2, Lazio 1 At Rome, the now-familiar questions surrounding the future of Lazio coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will likely follow the troubling home loss. The Swede has signed on to take over the England national team at the end of the Italian campaign, but English officials said again this week that they want to convince Eriksson and Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti to cut short the skipper's stay in Italy. Mihajlovic's 87th-minute penalty shot provided the host's lone highlight. Napoli has improved since Emiliano Mondinico took over after six games, following the firing of Zdenek Zeman. Diego Maradona's former team has also just acquired Brazilian forward Edmundo, who arrived Sunday to watch the game at Stadio Olimpico. The contest was marred by violence. A 25-year-old Napoli fan was stabbed in the thigh by a Lazio supporter in a clash on the streets before the game. And later, Napoli fans threw objects on the field and clashed with police inside the stadium. Reggina 2, Parma 0 At Parma, the visitors came in with the worst offense and worst defense in the league. But the highly paid hosts, who were booed by their fans, were listless throughout. Dionigi's first goal came on a diving header in the 20th. He connected with a corner kick in the 54th to seal the victory. Perugia 3, Udinese 1 At Perugia, the hosts are the league's hottest team, with their third straight win, including a road victory over AC Milan on Dec. 23. Luca Saudati's header in the 10th opened the scoring for Perugia (5-4-4). Udinese's lone goal came when the ball knocked off the knee of Perugia 'keeper Andrea Mazzantini and into the net in the 35th. Just a minute later, the game was effectively sealed as Ghanaian defender Mohammed Gargo was ejected for a last-man foul inside the area, setting up Marco Materazzi's penalty shot and leaving Udinese with 10 men for the final 55 minutes. Giovanni Tedesco scored Perugia's third goal in the closing seconds. Udinese (6-1-6) has lost its last four on the road. Bologna 1, Brescia 0 At Bologna, Tomas Locatelli scored in the 33rd for the hosts, who broke a three-game winless streak. Bologna's Jonatan Binotto and Brescia's Aimo Diana were ejected in the second half. Brescia (1-6-6) is winless in the last five, dropping to next-to-last place. Lecce 4, Verona 2 At Lecce, Emiliano Bonazzoli gave the visitors the lead in the 23rd. But Lecce (4-4-5) scored four straight goals, two by Cristiano Lucarelli and one each by Argentina's Aldo Osorio and Yugoslavia's Mirko Vucinec. Brazil's Adailton added a late penalty shot for Verona (2-6-5). 20 hospitalized in Lazio-Napoli violenceROME -- Soccer fans fought with each other and police Sunday, resulting in 20 people sent to the hospital and scores of others injured inside and outside the city's main stadium. The violence started when Napoli fans vandalized two city buses taking them from the train station to Stadio Olimpico, smashing windows and damaging roofs and doors. An Italian policeman had a splinter of glass removed from his eye after the clashes. The officer was travelling on a bus carrying Napoli fans to Rome's Olympic Stadium. The vehicle was hit by stones thrown from a bridge and one of the windows shattered, showering those inside with glass. The injured officer was not badly hurt and hospital sources said his eyesight would not be permanently impaired. Outside the stadium, Napoli and Lazio fans scuffled and a Napoli fan was stabbed in the thigh, the ANSA news agency said. The injured Napoli fan was treated at a hospital and released. A police officer broke his leg trying to restrain ticketless Napoli fans just before kickoff. Once the game began, fans on both sides clashed with police and threw objects on the field. Police waded into the crowd, swinging clubs at taunting fans. By the time it was over, about 100 spectators received first aid and at least 20 more had been sent to the hospital with broken bones and bruises. After Napoli's surprising 2-1 victory, Lazio fans threw bottles at police outside the stadium and set fire to a car with a Naples license plate.
Reuters contributed to this report.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
