MILAN, 22 March 2004 — Struggling Serie A giants Inter Milan beat tailenders Ancona 2-0 yesterday to end a winless run of six games and move closer to qualification for next season’s Champions League.
The goals scored by Alvaro Recoba and Daniele Adani in Ancona helped Inter move up to sixth position with 40 points, just one behind joint-fifth Lazio and Parma.
Front-runners AC Milan have 67 points after beating Parma 3-1 on Saturday and hold a temporary 10-point lead ahead of second-placed Roma, who tackle Lazio in a top-billing city derby late Sunday. Third-place Juventus dropped 11 points behind AC Milan after a scoreless draw Saturday at Udinese.
Inter had managed only three points from as many draws in their last six outings and desperately needed a win to improve their morale and retain a decent position in the table. Still, it took them one hour of fruitless attacks before Recoba managed to beat keeper Sergio Marcon with a long-range left footer.
Brazilian striker Adriano also had some good chances, but was let down by inaccuracy, particularly when he shot wide from two meters off on 49 minutes.
Before his goal, Recoba had come close through several efforts that either went begging by few centimeters or were bravely saved by Marcon.
Defender Daniele Adani made sure of the points by nodding home a corner kick curled into the area by Recoba on 70 minutes.
Promoted side Sampdoria are in eighth position on 37 points after a 1-1 draw away to lowly Empoli, who clinched a well-deserved equalizer in injury time.
Bologna drew level on 28 points with Brescia after hammering them 3-0 thanks to goals by former Brescia forward Albanian Igli Tare, Carlo Nervo and captain Giuseppe Signori. Perugia are still in second-from-last position despite their 2-1 win away to in-form Lecce, their third win in a five-game unbeaten run.
Reggina also won 2-1 in an away tie to Modena and moved to 24 points, but still remain in fourth-from-last position above.
Siena drew 1-1 at Chievo Verona.
Larsson Double Puts Him in Celtic’s Record Books
In Glasgow, Henrik Larsson became Celtic’s highest league goal-scorer since World War Two when he netted twice in the runaway Scottish Premier League leaders’ 4-0 win at Hibernian yesterday.
The double strike took the Swede to 169 league goals in an overall total of 232 during his seven years at Celtic. He overtook Bobby Lennox’s haul of 167 set in the era when Celtic won the European Cup in 1967.
Jimmy McGrory, who played from 1922 to 1939, remains Celtic’s most prolific scorer in history, with 397 league goals.
Former Hibs player Didier Agathe also scored twice on Sunday as the Glasgow side warmed up in style for the return leg of their UEFA Cup fourth-round match with Barcelona on Thursday. Celtic hold a 1-0 first-leg lead.
Unbeaten Celtic extended their lead over Rangers, who beat Dundee 4-0 on Saturday, to 19 points before next Sunday’s Glasgow derby. Chris Sutton and Stanislav Varga missed the win over Hibs due to injury but O’Neill was hopeful that both would be fit to face Barca.
Hibernian, beaten in last Sunday’s League Cup final by Livingston, made a bright start but fell behind when Agathe volleyed Stephen McManus’s cross into the corner of the net on 18 minutes.
Stilian Petrov should have increased their lead before Larsson robbed hesitant home goalkeeper Daniel Andersson to slip home the second on 35. Larsson added the third two minutes after half-time while Andersson was again at fault as an Agathe shot flew through his grasp and into the net on 81.
Home defender Jonathan Baillie was sent off for aiming a headbutt at Celtic striker Craig Beattie’s chest in the closing stages.
Crowd Trouble Flares as West Ham Lose to Millwall
In London, crowd trouble marred an English first division match between Millwall and West Ham United yesterday.
Mounted police were needed to restore order at Millwall’s New Den stadium as trouble flared in the second half of the crucial promotion battle between the London rivals. According to BBC radio, West Ham fans tried to invade the pitch when Millwall, leading 3-1, were awarded a penalty and West Ham goalkeeper Stephen Bywater was sent off.
The match had attracted a massive security operation, with a reported 1,000 police officers on duty in and around the stadium close by the River Thames. FA Cup semifinalists Millwall, who missed two penalties, won the game 4-1 to boost their chances of reaching the promotion playoffs.
The south London club are now seventh in the table with 59 points, level with Sunderland and Ipswich and just one behind fifth-placed West Ham with two games in hand. Norwich and West Bromwich Albion occupy the automatic promotion places with 70 points.
Ajax Close In on Title With 5-0 Thrashing of Vitesse
Ajax Amsterdam thrashed lowly Vitesse Arnhem 5-0 to move 11 points clear at the top of the Dutch first division on yesterday.
Ajax have 64 points with eight matches remaining and need only 14 points to seal the championship.
Titleholders PSV, held 1-1 at home to NAC Breda on Saturday, are a distance second, four points ahead of Feyenoord who beat RKC Waalwijk 1-0. Ajax scored three times in the first 29 minutes through Brazilian Maxwell, Wesley Sneijder and Romanian Nicolea Mitea.
With 18 minutes remaining John Heitinga made it 4-0, heading home from a corner. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with his ninth goal of the season, completed the rout eight minutes later. Feyenoord started briskly against RKC but wasted three good chances before Dirk Kuijt scored what proved to be the winner in the sixth minute.
