Serie A - Round-up: Milan open gap

Eurosport - Sun, 03 May 21:56:00 2009

Second-placed Milan opened up a five-point lead over Juventus in Serie A after they beat Catania 2-0 and Juve were held by Lecce.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Serie A Milan Catania-Milan Inzaghi Beckham Seedorf - 0

The Bianconeri failed to win for a fifth straight league game when Jose Castillo scored in injury time to give relegation-threatened Lecce a 2-2 draw in Turin.

Pavel Nedved had scored twice to help Juve come from behind but they now trail leaders Internazionale by 11 points with four matches to play.

Milan host Juve next Sunday and are seven behind Inter after in-form Filippo Inzaghi (pictured) and Brazil star Kaka netted in a comfortable 2-0 win at Catania.

Inter will seal their fourth successive scudetto if they win at Chievo next Sunday and Juve beat Milan.

The chances of a Juve victory at the San Siro look remote, however, after Claudio Ranieri's side put in another nervous performance against Lecce.

The game in Turin had been due to be played behind closed doors because of racist chanting against Inter last month but Juve won a temporary injunction to lift the ban.

However, Juve fans used the occasion to protest against Ranieri and club bosses, especially after Axel Konan put Lecce ahead on 11 minutes despite looking offside.

The disappointing Alessandro Del Piero was hauled off at half-time and Juve improved after the break, Nedved firing in twice with his left foot but earning a booking which rules him out of the Milan game.

The mood in the stadium changed little despite Juve taking the lead, with fans also protesting against plans to bring Fabio Cannavaro back to the club from Real Madrid.

Argentine striker Castillo then headed in from close range to put second-bottom Lecce two points behind fourth-bottom Torino, who lost 1-0 at Fiorentina.

Juan Vargas's goal for Fiorentina strengthened their grip on the fourth Champions League qualifying spot.

The Florence side are now five behind Juve, who occupy the last automatic Champions League berth.

Inconsistent Roma are far from secure in a Europa League spot after a 0-0 home draw with Chievo.

Meanwhile Diego Milito scored a hat-trick as Genoa beat Sampdoria 3-1 in the Genoa derby to keep alive their hopes of Champions League qualification.

Milito tapped home at the far post to put his side ahead on the half-hour mark, but Hugo Campagnaro levelled with a cool finish in first-half injury time.

Milito produced another composed finish to re-establish Genoa's lead on 73 minutes. before a wild two minutes in the closing stages saw three players sent off - Matteo Ferrari and Thiago Motta for Genoa, and Hugo Campagnaro for Sampdoria.

Milito wrapped up the victory in stoppage time, side-footing into an empty net after a breakaway from Raffaele Palladino.

The win moves Genoa to within a point of Fiorentina in fourth.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 6 of 6

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. People like Grygera, Poulsen, Tiago are good if we are­ fighting for Uefa Cup, but Juve is the only in it for­ the trophy and nothing else. This season was messed up­ by injuries greatly. Chiellini and Molinaro is great­ the left, I don't mind Mellberg, but he is old just­ like Nedved and Alex. Grygera is a joke imo. Sissoko is­ a great stopper, but we need a playmaker next to him.­ Camo and Nedved are not going to be around for long,­ although I like what i see in Marchionni. At front we­ are set IF there are no injuries like this year. With­ Giovinco getting more and more play time, there is a­ strong force there. The 3 I mentioned before need to­ go, if we replace them with some quality then we will­ be strong for the title.

    From Spigy, on Mon 4 May 6:17PM

  2. Recently I found a hot club -- W ealthy find e r c o m­ -- just­ for sexy tall gals and guys to find their­ romance. Come­ on, tall singles. Don't miss your­ love.

    From sexyfisrtt, on Mon 4 May 8:29AM

  3. Of course we get pissed with the looser Ranieri. He is­ good at nothing. I said it we should have kept­ Deschamps. Damn you Ranieri, Damn you!!!!

    From Half A Brain, on Mon 4 May 7:55AM

  4. Juventus need to buy new first team players with PACE­ & SKILL for all over the field.... why can't we­ be more like Barca! Serie A is a slow league.. a bit of­ pace and juve would have the competition chasing them­ around the pitch instead of letting them in the game.­ Del Piero (my favourite) is past it if truth be told,­ Melberg???? TRez doesn't get involved in the team­ enough, amauri is ok.. but not amazing, Poulsen???­ Thiago plays alot better now and is a good player but­ not juventus standard (from the standard of the­ 90's team). A more creative midfield is needed­ (pace & flair to win back the support of Juve's­ flailing support), Chiellini and another solid central­ defender (cannavaro??? is he still solid enough??) and­ some really pacy wing backs (similar to Maicon). If­ only Juve would play their younger players more give­ giovinco and even iago starting games in midfield for­ rest of season.... and stick manniger in between the­ sticks - Buffon does amazing saves but lets shoddy­ goals in in the same game! Manniger has been much more­ consistent and should be rewarded!

    From ilovejuventus, on Sun 3 May 11:36PM

  5. Juventus need to buy new first team players with PACE­ & SKILL for all over the field.... why can't we­ be more like Barca! Serie A is a slow league.. a bit of­ pace and juve would have the competition chasing them­ around the pitch instead of letting them in the game.­ Del Piero (my favourite) is past it if truth be told,­ Melberg???? TRez doesn't get involved in the team­ enough, amauri is ok.. but not amazing, Poulsen???­ Thiago plays alot better now and is a good player but­ not juventus standard (from the standard of the­ 90's team). A more creative midfield is needed­ (pace & flair to win back the support of Juve's­ flailing support), Chiellini and another solid central­ defender (cannavaro??? is he still solid enough??) and­ some really pacy wing backs (similar to Maicon). If­ only Juve would play their younger players more give­ giovinco and even iago starting games in midfield for­ rest of season.... and stick manniger in between the­ sticks - Buffon does amazing saves but lets shoddy­ goals in in the same game! Manniger has been much more­ consistent and should be rewarded!

    From ilovejuventus, on Sun 3 May 11:35PM

  6. As a Juve fan, i must say these are some really­ negative times for us.... we're not getting the­ points and now the fans are getting pissed off... i am­ also pissed off but as a true fan i think we should­ NEVER whistle our players off.... it's already­ going crappy enough... it doesn't become better if­ we jeer them off... We have to stay behind our team and­ support them and hope for better times next year.... Im­ quite coy about the Cannavaro transfer, i think it­ sounds interesting but it would bring far too much­ turbulence to the team/fans and disrupt the team.....­ But we have higher priorities like getting a­ replacement for Nedved next year (Diego? Downing?­ Bentley?) as Giovinco cant do it all alone.... Only­ time shall tell.....

    From chukwuekuakinyemi, on Sun 3 May 9:54PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account