Del Piero keeps Juventus on course for crown

April 22, 2000
SportsServer

Milan, Italy - An Alessandro Del Piero penalty kept Juventus on course for the Italian league title on Saturday as it beat Fiorentina 1-0 to stay five points clear at the top.

Sole rival Lazio was a 2-0 winner at Piacenza, but with only three matches left of the Serie A season, Juventus looks even more certain to pick up the 26th league title of the club's illustrious history.

Del Piero scored in first-half stoppage time after a foul on winger Gianluca Zambrotta. It was Del Piero's eighth spot-kick of the season - and all of them have been converted.

Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti admitted: "It wasn't a brilliant Juventus performance.

"But we got the result we wanted. And now we can have a good Easter."

Veteran defender Ciro Ferrara insisted there would be no easing up in the team's final matches, highlighting the seven-point lead which Lazio squandered in the closing weeks of 1998-99.

"You know that happend last season with Lazio," he told reporters. "They got caught. We don't want the same thing happening to us."

Lazio had to wait until the 59th minute for its first goal on Saturday - midfield substitute Diego Simeone heading home Sinisa Mihajlovic's corner just two minutes after replacing fellow Argentinian Matias Almeyda.

Another of its Argentinian imports, midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, cracked in Lazio's second with a booming free-kick placed between post and crossbar in the 68th minute.

Lazio coach Sven Goran Eriksson said: "We want to keep winning every match. "We know that there is less and less hope each week, but the hope is still there. We mustn't give up.

"We must finish this season in style - because even that is something great."

Four other teams are chasing two places in the Champions League preliminary rounds - and it looks certain to go down to the wire.

Parma drew 0-0 with rival AS Roma, while there were victories for both the Milan teams, AC and Inter.

Roma coach Fabio Capello put a brave face on the result, saying: "If there was a team who deserved to win, it was Roma... the team played well, right to the end. They gave everything they had."

AC Milan made a flying start away to Reggina, leading 2-0 inside the opening quarter of an hour.

Reggina's luckless Chilean defender Jorge Vargas scored an own goal when the ball rebounded in off his leg after a goalmouth melee.

Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko tapped in the second from one meter after Reggina goalkeeper Massimo Taibi, on loan from Manchester United, parried a shot from Milan's Spanish striker Jose Mari.

Shevchenko, the Serie A's top scorer, notched the 22nd goal of his debut season after joining from Dynamo Kiev.

Andrea Pirlo, a gifted 20-year-old playmaker, pulled one back for the hosts with a sweetly-struck free-kick in the 25th minute, but it finished 2-1.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said: "We were more determined than we have been in past matches and I think we deserved to win."

But he added: "We must be absolutely concentrated against Piacenza next Sunday because this mini-championship with four teams is very close."

Inter Milan took its revenge on bogey club Bari, who had won all five of their previous meetings, beating the southerners 3-0 here at San Siro.

Benoit Cauet 'scored' for Inter after 24 minutes. The French midfielder happened to be standing in the way of Argentinian skipper Javier Zanetti's shot and the ball ricocheted off his shin, wrongfooting the Bari 'keeper.

Compatriot Laurent Blanc added the second 11 minutes later, rising on the edge of the six-meter box to head in a free-kick from Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba.

Roberto Baggio added the third, pouncing on a defensive blunder to rifle home a low 20-meter shot in the 50th minute- securing Inter's first win since the derby on March 5.

Galliani's mini championship sees Milan ahead of Parma on goal difference with 54 points apiece, trailed by Inter (52) and Roma (51).

Udinese drew 0-0 with Torino, while Bologna eased its fears of relegation by beating Perugia 2-1.

Swedish giant Kennet Andersson was Bologna's hero, supplying the pass for veteran striker Giuseppe Signori to score in the 14th minute and then scoring their second a minute later.

Perugia's Nicola Amoruso made it 2-1 in the 20th minute.

Claudio Bonomi scored a goal in each half as Lecce beat Cagliari 2-1. Substitute Daniele Conti, the son of 1982 World Cup winner Bruno, volleyed in Cagliari's consolation goal in the 89th minute.

Relegation strugglers Venezia was 2-0 up over Verona with 10 minutes left but still had to settle for a point.

Venezia's Croatian striker, Igor Budan, scored for the second weekend running as it took the lead and Maurizio Ganz, on loan from AC Milan, added the second in the 78th minute.

But Brazilian Adailton scored for Verona two minutes later with a majestic 25-meter free-kick and Emiliano Salvetti notched the 85th minute equaliser.

The second half was marred though by racist insults by Verona fans who targetted Venezia's black French defender, Bruno N'Gotty.
.