ROME, 7 March 2005 — Adriano scored his first goal in almost three months to give Inter Milan a 2-1 home win over Lecce yesterday.
The 23-year-old Brazilian striker, who last scored on Dec. 12, ended his drought by stroking home a controversial 89th minute penalty for his 15th Serie A goal.
The spot-kick was highly dubious as Brazilian defender Angelo barely touched Julio Cruz, who fell to the floor theatrically.
Alex Pinardi gave Lecce the lead with a tap-in, before Ivan Cordoba equalized for the home side with a towering header.
Inter remain in fourth place on 46 points, one behind Sampdoria who won 1-0 at home to Chievo.
The winner in Genoa came eight minutes from time when Francesco Flachi’s free-kick deflected off the body of teammate Andrea Gasbarroni, completely wrong-footing Chievo keeper Luca Marchegiani.
The visitors missed a penalty 10 minutes after the break. Sergio Volpi tripped Franco Semioli in the area and Lorenzo D’Anna was forced to take his penalty twice for encroachment. The first time he was successful, but his second attempt was easily saved by Francesco Antonioli.
Brescia won 3-2 at fellow strugglers Siena, while Parma improved their chances of survival with a victory by the same score at home to Cagliari.
Lazio’s three-match winning streak came to an end as they lost 1-0 at Messina, while Bologna won by the same score at Udinese.
Fabrizio Miccoli’s 69th minute penalty gave Fiorentina a 2-1 home win over Reggina.
Everton Lose at Home; West Brom Climb Off Bottom
In London, Everton missed the chance to ease further away from city rivals Liverpool in their quest for European football next season after slumping to a 1-0 home defeat against Blackburn Rovers yesterday.
Victory for Rovers moved them further clear of relegation danger while in the day’s other match, West Bromwich Albion beat midlands rivals Birmingham City 2-0 to climb off the foot of the Premier League table. Fourth-placed Everton, seeking to strengthen their hold on the fourth Champions League place, were sunk by a goal on 71 minutes from striker Jon Stead, his first of the season.
Stead, who also hit the winner in Blackburn’s 1-0 victory at Goodison Park last season, latched on to Steven Reid’s pass and beat Nigel Martyn with an angled shot.
Everton remain on 51 points from 29 games, eight ahead of Liverpool who have one game in hand. Blackburn move up two places to 14th on 31 points. Defender Neil Clement and striker Kevin Campbell scored second-half goals to lift West Brom to 21 points from 28 matches, one point above Norwich City.
Clement headed in Kieran Richardson’s corner after 53 minutes and Campbell fired home the second from the edge of the penalty area 11 minutes later to seal only West Brom’s third league win of the season. Chelsea beat Norwich 3-1 on Saturday to extend their lead at the top to eight points after Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
Hertha’s Champions League Hopes Hit by 1-1 Draw
In Frankfurt, Hertha Berlin lost ground in the race for Champions League places in Germany when they could snatch only a 1-1 draw at home to Kaiserslautern yesterday.
Hertha fell behind to a Lucien Mettomo goal five minutes into the second half, had two goals disallowed and managed to grab a point when Alexander Madlung headed in five minutes from time.
The result left Hertha in fifth place on 40 points, 10 behind joint leaders Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 and three adrift of Werder Bremen in the third Champions League slot.
With 10 matches to play, Hertha are in a tight race for the third Champions League spot, with four points separating Werder in third and Bayer Leverkusen in seventh.
In yesterday’s other match Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2 at FC Nuremberg.
The club from the capital should have had the game settled in the first half as Hertha’s midfield threatened to overwhelm Kaiserslautern, but their finishing let them down.
Artur Wichniarek blasted wide when he seemed certain to score in the 10th minute and 10 minutes later the Poland international’s header was brilliantly saved by Kaiserslautern keeper Thomas Ernst.
Celtic Beat Hibernian to Slash Rangers Lead
In Glasgow, Celtic won 3-1 at Hibernian yesterday to cut Rangers’ lead to four points at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Bulgarian captain Stilian Petrov put Celtic ahead after four minutes before John Hartson hit a second before the break.
On-loan Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy grabbed his first league goal when he sprang the offside trap to drill home a third on 65 minutes and Hibernian pulled one back in stoppage time through Guillaume Beuzelin.
Second-placed Celtic now have 68 points from 27 games and have two matches in hand on Rangers, who drew 1-1 with Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday and sit top on 72.
