ROME, 6 December 2004 — Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the winner as Juventus came back from an early deficit in a 2-1 win over Lazio yesterday, restoring its four-point lead atop the Italian league.
AC Milan had cut Juve’s advantage to one point with a 2-1 comeback victory of its own at Parma on Saturday.
Macedonian striker Goran Pandev put Lazio in front 11 minutes in at Stadio delle Alpi, beating three defenders including Fabio Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram before launching an accurate angled shot.
In the 40th minute, Juve’s new Uruguayan midfielder Ruben Olivera converted a header off a pass from Mauro Camoranesi.
Ibrahimovic, who bounced a header off the crossbar eight minutes in, sealed the match with a deflection on a play largely created by attacking midfielder Olivier Kapo of France.
“We had the first scoring chance hit the crossbar, then right away we gave up an avoidable goal, we were too nice with Pandev,” Juventus coach Fabio Capello said. “But then we were patient in moments of difficulty and we recovered.
“At halftime I told the players that they can’t play without running, without applying pressure. We played a very ugly first half, while the second period was better. I told them their jerseys were not going to win them the game.”
The victory gave Juventus 35 points to Milan’s 31. Lazio was left in the relegation zone with just 16 points and the loss could lead to the firing of coach Domenico Caso.
Udinese maintained its hold on third place with a 1-0 win over Siena that boosted its total to 25 points. Antonio Di Natale’s 16th-minute header put Udinese in front.
and a spectacular save by goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis toward the end preserved the victory.
Newly promoted Cagliari kept its surprising fourth position on 22 points with a convincing 4-2 home win against Chievo Verona.
Elsewhere on a rainy day throughout most of the country, Uruguayan midfielder Guillermo Giacomazzi scored the winner for Lecce in a 3-2 victory against Livorno and Brescia won 3-1 at Reggina.
Struggling AS Roma was to host Sampdoria in the night match.
On Saturday, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo scored in the last eight minutes to rally Milan after an opening goal by Parma’s Alberto Gilardino.
Also, Adriano scored a hat-trick in the first half of Inter Milan’s 5-0 win against Messina, moving the Brazilian’s club into a tie for sixth, 15 points behind Juventus.
Rommedahl strike gives Charlton late 1-0 win over Crystal Palace€
In London Charlton beat London rival Crystal Palace 1-0 yesterday with an injury time winner from substitute Dennis Rommedahl.
The win was Charlton’s second away win of the season and lifted the club three places to 10th. Charlton goalkeeper Dean Kiely saved a 57th-minute penalty from Andy Johnson.
Aki Riihilahti hit the bar for Palace and Jerome Thomas and Matt Holland went close for Charlton.
Saturday, Arsenal won for the first time in five matches, getting two goals from Thierry Henry to beat Birmingham 3-0 while Chelsea and Manchester United also posted comfortable wins.
Arsenal dropped its German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who had started every match in the club’s record 49-match unbeaten league streak, for Manuel Almunia.
The Spaniard kept Arsenal’s first clean sheet in 14 matches, but didn’t have a lot to do. Robert Pires added the other goal at Highbury.
Chelsea stayed in first place, five points ahead of Arsenal, with a 4-0 win over Newcastle.
Manchester United beat Southampton 3-0 on second-half goals from Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo for its seventh straight win in all competitions.
Everton stayed in third place by snatching a 3-2 win over Bolton thanks to a Radhi Jaidi own-goal with five minutes left.
Also Saturday, it was: Aston Villa 1, Liverpool 1; Norwich 0, Fulham 1; and Portsmouth 3, West Bromwich Albion 2. Tottenham beat Blackburn 1-0, with Robbie Keane’s 56th-minute strike ending Rovers’ five-match unbeaten run.
Chelsea leads with 39 points, followed by Arsenal with 34, Everton with 33 and Manchester United with 30. Middlesbrough takes on Manchester City on Monday.
In the Football League championship, Wigan went top again with a 5-0 win over Preston Sunday, with Nathan Ellington scoring two goals. Wigan has a one point lead over Ipswich and a four point lead over Sunderland.
