ROME, 1 November 2004 — Juventus maintained their five-point cushion at the top of Serie A yesterday when they crushed Chievo Verona 3-0 at Turin’s Stadio delle Alpi.
Goals by strikers Marcelo Zalayeta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfielder Pavel Nedved continued Juve’s unbeaten start to the season and gave them 25 points from nine matches. AC Milan are second after beating Sampdoria 1-0 on Saturday.
Lecce, on 15 points, lie an increasingly distant third after their defense disintegrated in a 4-0 defeat to Fiorentina.
Chievo started strongly against Juve but when midfielder Manuele Blasi chipped the ball over their defense in the 24th minute, striker Zalayeta was ready in the box to turn the ball into the net for his fourth goal in five games.
Twenty minutes later the Uruguayan nearly set up Juve’s second with a neat backheel to Nedved, but his shot was saved by keeper Luca Marchegiani.
Marchegiani was powerless to prevent Nedved scoring midway through the second half, though, when the Czech unleashed a vicious, dipping shot from outside the area.
Chievo striker Federico Cossato wasted a free header in front of goal and 11 minutes from time Ibrahimovic sealed the result when he muscled in front of defender Davide Mandelli and fired home a right-footed finish.
While Chievo’s defeat was predictable, Lecce’s capitulation in Florence was as swift as it was unexpected.
The southerners, who had shown great character midweek in overturning a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with Inter Milan, might have counted themselves unlucky when they went behind just before halftime to Martin Jorgensen’s strike from wide on the right.
In the second half, however, they unraveled completely. Fiorentina midfielder Christian Obodo lobbed keeper Vicenzo Sicignano from just in front of the halfway line.
As Lecce’s defenders pushed too far up field Obodo grabbed his second of the match and defender Giorgio Chiellini completed the rout with Fiorentina’s fourth just before the end.
Elsewhere, AS Roma made up for their midweek defeat by Juve with a 5-1 demolition of promoted Cagliari.
Cagliari were two down within six minutes as defender Traianos Dellas’ diving header crept in at the far post and then Francesco Totti converted from the penalty spot after a foul on teammate Daniele de Rossi.
Striker David Suazo pulled one back for the visitors on the half hour but when Cagliari defender Francesco Bega failed to clear an innocuous-looking ball in the area shortly after the break Roma midfielder Simone Perrotta pounced to fire home Roma’s third.
Two late goals by Vincenzo Montella completed the rout and took his season’s total to eight, making him the leading scorer in Serie A.
Bolton End Newcastle Run With 2-1 Win
In London, Bolton Wanderers continued their impressive start to the season when they beat in-form Newcastle United 2-1 yesterday to reclaim fourth spot in the Premier League.
After a quiet first half Bolton went ahead in the 52nd minute though El Hadji Diouf, the first goal the Senegal striker has scored for the club since joining on loan from Liverpool at the start of the season.
Newcastle midfielder Darren Ambrose lashed in a spectacular 25-meter equalizer three minutes later but Bolton won it in the 70th minute when Kevin Davies took advantage of more slack defending to score from close range.
The result takes Bolton to fourth place on 21 points, two behind Everton and five behind the top two Chelsea and Arsenal. It was Newcastle’s first defeat in 11 matches since Graeme Souness took over as manager from Bobby Robson in September. They remain eighth on 16 points.
Novo Double Helps Rangers Hammer Aberdeen 5-0
In Glasgow, Rangers striker Nacho Novo set up one goal and scored two others for the Glasgow side in a 5-0 trouncing of Scottish Premier League rivals Aberdeen yesterday.
Novo’s pass allowed Steven Thompson to score a 38th minute opener from close range before the Spaniard found the net in the 75th minute and also in the 89th from the penalty spot as Aberdeen paid dearly for throwing too many players forward.
Peter Lovenkrands’ 68th minute goal and Fernando Ricksen’s long-range effort three minutes from time equaled Rangers’ biggest win against Aberdeen in the SPL. It was also the biggest victory by any team in the SPL this season.
Teber Late Show Saves Kaiserslautern and Jara
In Berlin, substitute Selim Teber came to the rescue of under pressure Kaiserslautern coach Kurt Jara scoring twice in the final ten minutes to grab a 2-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld yesterday. The win lifts Kaiserslautern off bottom spot and loosens the noose that had been growing tighter around Jara’s neck.
Delron Buckley shot Bielefeld into a 79th minute lead with his seventh goal of the season but the lead was short-lived.
Teber leveled sixty seconds later and then hit a dramatic 90th minute winner, although the ball took a kind deflection off an unfortunate Bielefeld defender.
Hansa Rostock replace Kaiserslautern at the bottom of the table following a 2-0 home reverse at the hands of FC Nuremberg yesterday.
Markus Schroth scored two quick-fire goals (56, 59) to inflict a sixth successive home loss on Rostock — a new Bundesliga record.
Zaragoza Bounce Back to Beat High-Flying Sevilla
In Madrid, Real Zaragoza put a humiliating midweek King’s Cup exit behind them with their sparkling 3-0 win at home to high-flying Sevilla in the Primera Liga yesterday.
The visitors’ second defeat of the season meant they missed a chance to close the gap on Barcelona, who remain six points clear at the top after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.
Deportivo Coruna also failed to make up ground on the leading group when they were held 0-0 at home by Albacete.
Still licking their wounds after a midweek defeat at the hands of second division Gimnastic, last season’s Cup winners Zaragoza swarmed all over Sevilla in the opening minutes and were rewarded for their pressure with a 13th minute goal.
Argentine winger Luciano Galletti powered home a long-range header from the far side of the area after defender Delio Toledo had swept in a cross from the left.
Zaragoza doubled their lead 14 minutes later when leading striker David Villa converted a penalty after Brazilian forward Savio was brought down by Sergio Ramos as he scorched into the area.
Villa grabbed his second 14 minutes after the break when he poked the ball past goalkeeper Esteban after a neat assist from defender Alvaro.
