MILAN, 20 December 2004 — Two goals to Francesco Totti in AS Roma’s 5-1 crushing of Parma yesterday made him the club’s all-time top scorer while third-placed Udinese beat Lazio 3-0 to close the gap on leading pair Juventus and AC Milan.
Juve’s goalless draw at home to champions Milan on Saturday leaves them on 39 points with Milan four behind and Udinese now on 31 points.
A first-half free-kick from Sinisa Mihajlovic gave fourth-placed Inter Milan a 1-0 home win over Brescia and only their fourth victory of the season.
Totti’s strikes for Roma took him to 108 Serie A goals, two more than Roberto Pruzzo’s previous club record, on a day when he threatened in a newspaper interview to quit the club.
Totti set up Antonio Cassano for Roma’s opening goal in the 10th minute and then made it 2-0 himself with the record-breaking goal.
Parma pulled a goal back through former Roma defender Cesare Bovo before the break but then Totti set up Cassano again to make it 3-1 five minutes into the second half.
Vincenzo Montella made it 4-1 with a fine solo goal and then Totti completed the rout with a thundering drive from over 20 meters out.
Parma had forward Andrea Pisanu sent off 15 minutes from the end of the game.
Inter struggled against Brescia and had it not been for Mihajlovic’s trademark drive, Roberto Mancini’s side could easily have ended up with a 13th draw. Francesco Flachi scored twice for Sampdoria as they won 4-1 at Lecce, who had defender Souleymane Diamoutene sent off in the 37th minute. Fiorentina beat Chievo 2-0 with goals from Christian Rigano and Spanish striker Javier Portillo — his first in the league since joining the Florence club on loan from Real Madrid.
Rare Campbell Strike Keeps Arsenal in Touch
In London, Sol Campbell was the unlikely match-winner for Arsenal on yesterday as they beat Portsmouth 1-0 to trim Chelsea’s Premier League lead to five points.
The England defender thumped a 25-metre shot past Pompey keeper Jamie Ashdown after 75 minutes to revive the champions who had been largely outplayed by the home side.
Campbell’s goal, his first for Arsenal since August 2003, leapfrogged the Londoners over Everton into second place with 38 points from 18 matches. Chelsea have 43 points after a 4-0 home win over Norwich City the previous day.
Earlier sixth-placed Liverpool produced an impressive comeback to beat Newcastle United 3-1 at Anfield.
Dutch forward Patrick Kluivert shot a weakened Newcastle in front after 32 minutes but within six minutes a Titus Bramble own goal and Neil Mellor’s well-taken goal swung the game in Liverpool’s favor. Milan Baros’ 11th goal of the season sealed the points for Liverpool on the hour before Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer was sent off for a second caution.
Liverpool stay sixth with 28 points from 18 matches while Newcastle languish in the bottom half of the table with just one win in their last eight league matches.
Espanyol’s Dull Draw Is Enough to Stay Second
In Madrid, Espanyol’s 0-0 draw at dogged bottom club Numancia will definitely not go down as one of the games of the season but it was enough to keep the Barcelona-based club in second place in the Spanish League yesterday.
The visitors’ tried to get a result and had several good chances, the best falling to Maxi Rodriguez on the hour, but Numancia rarely looked interested in doing anything other than defending and succeeded in grinding out a point.
Espanyol have 30 points from their 16 games but remain nine points behind their local rivals and runaway league leaders Barcelona.
Bolivian international defender Juan Manuel Pena headed home a Juan Roman Riquelme freekick four minutes into injury time at the end of the first half to get Villarreal’s opener in their 3-0 win over Malaga. It was Pena’s first goal in an official club game for more than 13 years.
After their 7-1 thrashing of Standard Liege in the UEFA Cup on Thursday, the Basques got their first win on the road in the Spanish league this season when they cruised to 2-0 a victory at Real Zaragoza.
Rangers Close Gap on Celtic With Narrow Victory
In Glasgow, Rangers slashed Celtic’s lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to one point with an unconvincing 1-0 victory at Kilmarnock yesterday. Shota Arveladze supplied the game’s only goal after 16 minutes, controlling a cross by Alan Hutton before drilling his shot past keeper Graeme Smith.
It was a welcome boost for the Glasgow club who were bundled out of Europe in midweek with a 2-0 home defeat by Auxerre in the UEFA Cup.
Rangers have 46 points from 19 games, with champions Celtic, who also labored to a 1-0 win against Dundee United on Saturday, on 47.
Yesterday’s other match between Livingston and Hearts was postponed because of a partly frozen pitch.
Koreans Stun Germany 3-1 to End Klinsmann’s Run
In Busan, South Korea, Germany’s unbeaten record under Juergen Klinsmann came to an abrupt halt yesterday when they were beaten 3-1 by South Korea in a re-run of their 2002 World Cup semifinal.
Kim Dong-jin, Lee Dong-gook and Cho Jae-jin were on target to give South Korea a measure of revenge for their 1-0 defeat by the Germans at the World Cup two and a half years ago.
To compound Germany’s frustration, captain Michael Ballack, who scored the winner in that match, missed a late penalty that would have made it 2-2 in Pusan. Midfielder Kim put South Korea ahead in the 16th minute, firing a left-foot volley past Oliver Kahn from 20 meters.
But Ballack equalized for the three-time World Cup winners eight minutes later with a free kick from the edge of the box.
South Korea goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae rescued the home side moments later, making a sharp stop to deny striker Miroslav Klose after slack defending. Ballack, who missed Germany’s 2-0 defeat by Brazil in the World Cup final after being booked against the Koreans, then had another free kick deflected against the post.
