MILAN, 6 October 2003 — Champions Juventus moved two points clear at the top of Serie A after an 80th-minute penalty by David Trezeguet gave them a 2-1 win over Bologna yesterday.
Lazio returned to winning ways as a deflected Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick in the 64th minute secured a 1-0 win over Chievo.
Juventus moved ahead of AS Roma, who were held to a goalless draw at promoted Siena.
Inter Milan and AC Milan meet at the San Siro in their derby later.
It was from a vintage performance from Juventus, missing the creative input of the injured Alessandro Del Piero, but as so often they managed to take full points from a below-par display.
Juve went ahead in strange fashion in the 23rd minute when Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved crossed from the left and defender Mark Iuliano rose for a header, only for the ball to fly off his back past Gianluca Pagliuca.
Three minutes later, though, Bologna pulled level when former Italy striker Giuseppe Signori converted a penalty awarded after Juve defender Nicola Legrottaglie brought down Carlo Nervo.
It was a struggle for Marcello Lippi’s side after the break but they finally broke through when Cristian Zaccardo was ruled to have tripped Gianluca Zambrotta inside the Bologna area.
There were lengthy protests from Bologna players but that failed to deter Trezeguet who blasted home the spot-kick to take unbeaten Juve on to 13 points from five games.
Zambrotta will hardly have calmed the anger of the Bologna players by telling Italy’s Sky Sport television that he “accentuated” his fall when under challenge.
Lazio had dropped points in the past two weeks and the visit of Luigi Del Neri’s battling Chievo side provided them with a real test.
In a tight game, Lazio looked brighter after the introduction of Simone Inzaghi at the break and earned their reward when Mihajlovic’s firmly struck free kick took a deflection off the defensive wall and wrong-footed Chievo’s former Lazio keeper Luca Marchegiani.
Lazio had midfielder Fabio Liverani sent off for a second bookable offense in injury time. Roma coach Fabio Capello put the blame on the conditions for his team’s scrappy goalless draw with Siena.
Brazilian Adriano grabbed his sixth goal of the season for Parma as they beat Sampdoria 1-0, while former European Player of the Year Roberto Baggio was on target for Brescia in their impressive 4-1 win at Lecce.
Crespo and Duff Combine
to Give Chelsea 2-1 Win
In London, substitute Hernan Crespo headed home a fine cross from Damien Duff two minutes from time to snatch a 2-1 victory for Chelsea at Middlesbrough in the Premier League yesterday.
The Argentine rose beyond the far post to head down from a tight angle past England defender Danny Mills and inside the right hand post of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer after Duff had sent in a left-footed cross from the right.
Chelsea, determined to make amends for their midweek home defeat by Besiktas of Turkey in the Champions League, stayed third in the standings, one point behind leaders Arsenal and level with Manchester United, who both won on Saturday.
Man-of-the-Match Duff also set up Chelsea’s opening goal in the 17th minute for Iceland’s Eidur Gudjohnsen who fired a low shot inside Schwarzer’s right hand post from the Ireland international’s defense-splitting pass.
It was the first goal conceded by Middlesbrough in four games after three successive 1-0 wins.
Middlesbrough were ultimately unlucky to lose when, having played poorly in the first half, they could have won the match in the second.
They equalized through Szilard Nemeth virtually from the restart when the Slovakian forward took a ball from midfielder Gaizka Mendieta after a stumble by Chelsea defender Robert Huth.
Duff said the defeat to Besiktas, Chelsea’s first loss of the season, “was a bad game and a bad result but thankfully we got back on track today.
Crespo’s winner made up for his bad miss in the 77th minute when the Argentine, who came on for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at the interval, should have scored.
Ndlovu Inspires Zimbabwe
to Regional Championship
In Harare, Zimbabwe won the Cosafa Castle Cup yesterday after an inspiring display from striker Peter Ndlovu, who scored in a 2-0 second-leg win over Malawi that helped them comfortably clinch the regional championship 4-1 on aggregate.
Ndlovu flew overnight from England, after playing for Sheffield United in their 1-0 defeat at home to Sunderland in the first division on Saturday, to help Zimbabwe to their second success in the annual southern African championship.
Ndlovu, who arrived in Harare three hours before kick off, wrapped up the victory with Zimbabwe’s second goal on 66 minutes after Charles Yohane had given the hosts a 36th-minute lead.
Sunday’s win rarely taxed Zimbabwe, who already had a 2-1 lead from the first leg of the final in Blantyre last weekend against a youthful Malawian side.
“We were never really good enough. Zimbabwe were just so much stronger,” said Malawi’s English coach Alan Gillett.
