MILAN, 24 October 2005 — Injury-plagued Filippo Inzaghi scored his first Serie A goal in 19 months to give second-placed AC Milan a 2-1 victory over Palermo yesterday, while leaders Juventus remain five points clear thanks to a 3-0 win at Lecce.
Third-placed Inter Milan also won with Argentine Julio Ricardo Cruz scoring in their 1-0 victory at Udinese and Sampdoria were held 3-3 at home by Siena.
Andrea Caracciolo put Palermo ahead at the San Siro in the 28th minute before Milan drew level within two minutes thanks to a fine strike from midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.
Inzaghi’s diving header secured the three points and his first goal since March 2004.
Juventus equalled their club record best start to a season with an eighth successive victory coming via goals from Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romanian Adrian Mutu and Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta.
After his long spell on the sidelines with injury, Inzaghi returned as a substitute in the past two games for Milan but he was back in the starting line-up against Palermo and repaid coach Carlo Ancelotti with a vital goal.
It was a pulsating opening half and after creating several chances, with Mario Santana hitting the cross-bar, Palermo went ahead when Fabio Grosso crossed from the left and Stephen Makinwa headed the ball into the path of Caracciolo who slotted home.
Milan responded with a furious assault on the Sicilian goal.
Inzaghi missed a chance, Alberto Gilardino forced Palermo keeper Nicola Santoni into a fine save and then Gattuso’s first time shot from outside the area brought Ancelotti’s side level.
Milan piled on the pressure after the break but were unable to find a way through until Marek Jankulovski crossed from the left and Inzaghi flung himself at the ball with a diving header that flashed past Santoni.
The midweek loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League was Juve’s first defeat of the campaign but Fabio Capello’s team responded at Lecce with a typical display of solid midfield work and clinical finishing.
Chelsea Held by Everton
In London, Chelsea dropped their first points of the season when they were held to a surprise 1-1 draw at bottom club Everton yesterday.
James Beattie put Everton ahead in the 35th minute but Frank Lampard equalized just after halftime to extend the champions’ unbeaten run to 39 league matches and keep them nine points clear at the top of the table.
A brilliant free kick by Turkish midfielder Emre Belozoglu earned Newcastle United a 3-2 win over north-east neighbors Sunderland,West Ham United beat Middlesbrough 2-1 and Bolton Wanderers defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0 in Sunday’s other games.
Everton were dreaming of only their second win of the season when striker Beattie converted a penalty following a foul on Tim Cahill by Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips.
England midfielder Lampard continued his prolific scoring form, however, with a clinical 20-meter strike five minutes after halftime.
Chelsea dominated possession for the rest of the match but were unable to break down a disciplined Everton defense except when striker Didier Drogba had an effort ruled out for offside.The draw ended Chelsea’s nine-match winning streak since the start of the season, two short of Tottenham Hotspur’s record.
Newcastle and Sunderland were level after four goals in seven minutes shortly before halftime. Shola Ameobi twice put Newcastle in front with headers but Sunderland hit back through Liam Lawrence and Stephen Elliott.
The derby game was heading for a draw until Emre struck in the 63rd minute, curling the ball round the wall from 25 meters.
Getafe Crush Zaragoza 5-2
to Go Top in Spain
In Madrid, Getafe continued to defy the odds when they crushed Real Zaragoza 5-2 to go top of the Primera Liga yesterday, while David Silva’s goal put Celta Vigo second after a 1-0 win over Espanyol. Getafe moved up to 17 points, one more than Celta and two more than Real Madrid who were to play Valencia in the Bernabeu later yesterday. Osasuna are fourth after losing 3-0 to fifth-placed Barcelona on Saturday. Real Sociedad went sixth with a 2-0 win over Deportivo Coruna.
Forward Veljko Paunovic put Getafe in front early on and Daniel Guiza doubled the lead from the penalty spot after 20 minutes.
Guiza broke away to score a third five minutes later and Ruben Pulido headed a fourth before halftime.
Zaragoza pulled two back in the second period before Getafe’s Pablo Redondo sealed the win with a spectacular volley.
Real Betis, who were thumped 4-0 by Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, suffered another mauling as they went down 5-0 in Malaga. Villarreal continue to improve as they beat bottom club Real Mallorca 3-0 while Cadiz piled the pressure on second-from-bottom Athletic Bilbao with a 1-0 home win.
