MILAN, 23 February 2004 — Antonio Cassano scored a hat trick as Roma crushed Siena 6-0 in Serie A yesterday keep within five points of leaders AC Milan. Milan came back from two goals down to beat city rivals Inter 3-2 in a thrilling derby on Saturday.
A second-half goal from Mark Iuliano gave champions Juventus a 1-0 win at Bologna. Milan lead on 55 points, with Roma on 50 and third-placed Juve a further point behind. Fourth-placed Lazio were held to a goalless draw away to 10-man Chievo while Perugia picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Reggina.
After Milan’s spectacular comeback in the derby the pressure was on Roma and Juve to keep in touch but the outcome at the Olympic Stadium was never in doubt after Cassano’s 19th minute opener.
The Bari-born striker headed home from close range and then added a second five minutes later, slotting home after a mistake by Siena’s Argentine defender Leandro Cufre, who is on loan from Roma. The game was all over in the 31st minute when Cassano set up Brazilian Mancini for a straightforward finish.
Roma’s Jonathan Zebina was dismissed for a second yellow card three minutes after the interval but that hardly changed the home side’s dominance. Francesco Totti had a penalty saved in the 56th minute but then the Roma captain provided the pass that allowed Cassano to complete his hat trick as Roma went 4-0 up.
Siena had their Brazilian Juarez dismissed in the 76th minute before substitute Marco Delvecchio and then Totti completed the rout for a Roma side who face a tough trip to Parma next week.
Juventus, without the injured David Trezeguet, picked up three points from a scrappy game at Bologna riddled with errors from both sides. Bologna enjoyed plenty of early pressure but striker Giuseppe Signori and Igli Tare were unable to make the most of the chances provided for them while Juve were restricted to two long-range efforts from Pavel Nedved.
The winning goal came in the 56th minute from the unlikely source of defender Mark Iuliano who slid in at the back post to poke home a free kick from Alessandro Del Piero.
Portsmouth Knock Liverpool Out of English FA Cup
Meanwhile, Liverpool saw their hopes of silverware this year cut in half as they were dumped out of the FA Cup at the hands of Portsmouth yesterday. Michael Owen missed a penalty as the 2001 winners were beaten 1-0 in the fifth-round replay at Fratton Park, where Richard Hughes scored the winner to send Portsmouth through to the quarterfinals and a clash with holders Arsenal.
Liverpool now have just the UEFA Cup to aim for, but they had only themselves to blame for not finishing off their Premiership rivals yesterday.
Having earlier had a penalty appeal given, and then rightly rejected, by referee Matt Messias, Liverpool did win a spot-kick in the 62nd minute. Again, the decision was shrouded in controversy as Matt Taylor’s tackle on Milan Baros, returning from injury for Liverpool, was harshly adjudged to have been unfair.
However, Owen’s tame penalty was saved by Shaka Hislop and 10 minutes later, Portsmouth took the lead when Hughes drove the ball home for his first goal for the club. Steven Gerrard forced a fine save from Hislop with a header and Owen shot wide from a good position as Portsmouth held on for victory, erasing some of the memories of 1992 in the process.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City shared the spoils in an English Premier League clash after an eight-goal thriller at White Hart Lane, highlighted by some shocking defensive errors.
In the day’s other Premier League game, Birmingham City came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with city rivals Aston Villa, with Stern John equalizing in the dying seconds.
Celtic Smash 40-Year-Old Winning Record
Celtic, meanwhile, smashed one of Scottish football’s oldest surviving records when they notched up a 24th consecutive league victory with a 4-1 win over bottom side Partick Thistle at Firhill in Glasgow yesterday.
The run, which improved on the previous record of 23 straight wins, registered by Morton 40 years ago, has left Celtic virtually certain of reclaiming the Scottish Premier League title from Rangers, who trail their Glasgow rivals by 13 points with the same number of games left to play.
Villarreal Suffer Heavy Blow to European Hopes
Villarreal lost further ground in the race for European places in Spain when they were beaten 4-1 at relegation candidates Real Zaragoza yesterday.
Zaragoza were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes with goals from Leonardo Ponzio and Cani and Villarreal’s fate was sealed when Quique Alvarez was sent off after 24 minutes.
Former Barcelona striker Dani got the third six minutes before halftime and even though the referee evened up the numbers with the sending-off of Carlos Quartero after 63 minutes, the home side went on to clinch a comfortable win.
Real Madrid hold a five-point lead at the top of the table after their 4-2 win at Espanyol on Saturday was followed by a 1-0 defeat for their chief title rivals Valencia at home to Barcelona. With 25 games played, Real lead the table with 56 points, followed by Valencia on 51 and Deportivo on 50.
