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Roma routs Lazio Inter routs Lecce but loses Ronaldo to injury
Posted: Monday November 22, 1999 12:07 PM
ROME (AP) -- Lazio is not unbeatable, and it's not alone atop the Serie A standing, either. A 4-1 drubbing against cross-city rival AS Roma on Sunday put an end to Lazio's 23-match undefeated run, and allowed Juventus of Turin to pull into a tie for first place. Alessandro Del Piero registered two assists and Juventus overcame an own-goal by Golden Ball winner Zinedine Zidane to beat AC Milan 3-1 in a match between the two clubs that have split the past eight league titles. Defending champion Milan, like Lazio, lost its first Serie A game of the season. Lazio and Juventus both have 6-3-1 records for 21 points, and will face off in Rome next weekend. Roma (5-4-1) is alone in third place, with 19 points. Marco Delvecchio and Vincenzo Montella each scored twice in the opening 31 minutes as Roma dealt Lazio its first defeat in league or cup play since a 3-1 Serie A loss against Juventus on April 17 - a stretch of 14 league matches and 23 games overall. That streak included a 2-1 win over Spain's Mallorca in the final of the Cup Winners Cup in May, and a 1-0 victory over England's Manchester United in the European SuperCup in August. Lazio had no answer for Roma's lethal counterattacks and never got its own powerful offense untracked before 77,988 at Olympic Stadium. "In that first half it looked like we had never played together before," Lazio coach Sven Goran Eriksson said. Delvecchio's breakaway goal in the seventh minute, off a pinpoint through-ball from midfielder Cristiano Zanetti, set the tone, and Montella made it 2-0 in the 11th after slipping behind a slow Lazio defense. The bookend strikers lit up the scoreboard four minutes apart again before halftime, and though there was still an hour left to play, the outcome was never in doubt. "With the quickness, quality and determination we showed in the first half," Roma's first-year coach Fabio Capello said, "it would have been tough for anyone to stop us today." Elsewhere Sunday, Internazionale of Milan routed Lecce 6-0 but may have lost star striker Ronaldo for two months with a sprained knee. The Brazilian, who scored Inter's fifth goal on a penalty kick, left the game early in the second half after twisting his right leg when his cleats got stuck in the wet turf at San Siro Stadium. In other games, AC Parma moved up to fourth place, with 18 points, by rallying from a goal down to beat last-place Cagliari; Torino edged Verona 1-0 despite playing the entire second half with nine men; Bari got an equalizer in the 96th minute off a penalty kick to draw 1-1 with Reggina; and Venezia and Piacenza drew 0-0. In two games played Saturday, Fiorentina beat Perugia 1-0 and Udinese defeated Bologna 2-1. At Rome, Roma notched a statement win, signaling it could be set to contend for its first title since 1983. "Roma was good, but we were asleep. You can't have 40-50 meter passes that go by everyone," Eriksson said. "We talk about being great, about winning the title, about being great in Europe, but it sure didn't look like it today." Delvecchio's response: "It's not that they were asleep. It's that we were too awake for them to handle." Montellaraised his season tally to six goals, one short of the league lead, while Delvecchio now has four. Roma captain Francesco Totti helped set up two of the scores and was influential throughout the match, running the attack while also helping out on defense. The most remarkable aspect of Roma's dominance was the way it shut down its rival's high-octane attack. Lazio, which had never trailed by more than one goal in any match this season, entered the game with 23 goals from nine Serie A outings. Its only score Sunday came off Yugoslav defender Sinisa Mihajlovic's penalty kick in the 52nd minute. The shot was awarded when Roma defender Aldair was called for a handball while on the ground. Lazio did not force Roma 'keeper Francesco Antonioli to make a tough save until the second half. Juventus 3, Milan 1 At Turin, French World Cup hero Zidane gifted Milan (4-5-1) a 1-0 lead after 21 minutes by accidentally knocking Milan defender Luigi Sala's shot past Juve 'keeper Edwin Van der Sar. But Juventus, playing its best all-around game of the season, stormed back, and captain Antonio Conte headed in an equalizer within two minutes off a Del Piero free kick. Del Piero, who hasn't appeared to be fully recovered from last Novemeber's season-ending knee ligament damage, then sprang striker Filippo Inzaghi for the go-ahead goal five minutes into the second half, slicing a perfect pass through the heart of Milan's defense. Yugoslav striker Darko Kovacevic sealed the win with a lobbed shot in injury time. Inter 6, Lecce 0 At Milan, where Lecce (3-2-5) has lost all seven of its games against Inter (5-2-3), six foreign players -- Ronaldo, Grigoris Georgatos, Javier Zanetti, Vladimir Jugovic, Ivan Zamorano and Alvaro Recoba -- scored. Parma 3, Cagliari 1 At Parma, Cameroon's Patrick Mboma put Cagliari (0-5-5) ahead in the 56th minute, but the hosts (5-3-2) responded with an equalizer from Argentina's Hernan Crespo and Marco Di Vaio's two goals. Torino 1, Verona 0 At Verona, on a snow-covered field, Edoardo Artistico entered as a substitute for Torino (3-5-2) in the 22nd minute, scored the lone goal in the 23rd, and was ejected in the 27th. Verona fell to 2-2-6. Bari 1, Reggina 1 At Bari, Daniel Andersson slotted in a penalty in the sixth minute of injury time for the hosts (2-5-3). Reggina is 2-4-4. Venezia 0, Piacenza 0 At Venice, both clubs remained in the relegation zone. Venezia (1-3-6) is in 17th place, Piacenza (1-4-5) 16th.
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