Nov 21 Juventus join Lazio at top after win over Milan

Juventus moved into second place in Serie A, level on points with leaders Lazio, after an impressive 3-1 home win over champions AC Milan. The result followed Roma's 4-1 win over Lazio in the Rome derby and left the Italian title race wide open. Juventus took the game to Milan and twice come close to opening the scoring through defender Ciro Ferrara -- one of his strong headers struck the post and the other was brilliantly saved by Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati. But Milan took the lead against the run of play in the 21st minute when Luigi Sala's firm header came out off the post, struck the leg of Juventus midfielder Zinedine Zidane and crossed the line. The goal did little to knock Juventus off their stride and two minutes later they drew level when Antonio Conte headed home a perfectly delivered right wing free kick from Alessandro Del Piero. German international Oliver Bierhoff had a great chance to restore Milan's lead before the break but he blasted over from close range. Del Piero, looking truly back to his best, had a hand in Juve's second with his neat through-ball picking out Filippo Inzagi, whose left shot gave Abbiati no chance. Juventus, on top throughout, showed no signs of easing off and Del Piero forced another excellent save out of Abbiati in the 56th minute as he continued to torment the Milan defence. It was no surprise when Juventus added a third goal in injury time. Alessio Tacchinardi lobbed a high ball into the penalty area and Yugoslav substitute Darko Kovacevic headed past Abbiati.