ROME, 17 October 2005 — Inter Milan moved up to second place in Serie A with a 5-0 demolition of Livorno at the San Siro stadium yesterday.
Inter have 15 points from seven matches, six points behind champions Juventus, who maintained their 100 percent winning start to the season with a 1-0 win over Messina on Saturday.
Lazio and Fiorentina are on 13 points after their match at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, which Lazio won 1-0.
Even without first-choice strikers Adriano and Obafemi Martins, both of whom were rested ahead of the Champions League match against Porto, Inter had few difficulties making it four wins out of four at their home ground.
Livorno’s top striker Cristiano Lucarelli was suspended, but their real problems were all in defense as became clear after 11 minutes when Inter defender Marco Materazzi took advantage of a failure to clear a corner to volley his side ahead. Inter doubled their lead eight minutes later, when a low cross by Giuseppe Favalli threaded through a group of players to present Julio Cruz with an easy finish.
The uphill task facing Livorno assumed mountainous proportions when midfielder Francesco Coco was sent off for a foul on Ze Maria two minutes after the restart.
Inter struck twice in four minutes as their opponent struggled to re-organize.
Elsewhere, two goals by defender Vittorio Tosto gave promoted Ascoli a 2-1 win over Sampdoria and AS Roma suffered a second defeat in three matches when they lost 1-0 at Empoli.
Two-Goal Cole Fires
Man City to Fourth
In London, Manchester City maintained their flying start to the Premier League season with an effervescent 2-1 home win over West Ham United yesterday. Andy Cole got both goals the day after his 34th birthday as City moved to fourth in the standings on 17 points behind Manchester United on goal difference.
Champions Chelsea lead the way on 27, ahead of Tottenham Hotspur with 18. City have played some entertaining football this season under coach Stuart Pearce and it is paying off.
Promoted West Ham arrived in Manchester having lost only once this season but were second-best against a home side who created a host of chances. Cole opened the scoring after 18 minutes with an expertly taken goal as he curled the ball around keeper Roy Carroll with his right foot from wide on the left of the area.
Earlier yesterday Aston Villa beat Birmingham 1-0 away, their first victory against their neighbors since City’s return to the top flight in 2002.
Rangers Held to Goalless
Draw at Dundee United
In Glasgow, champions Rangers slipped further behind in the Scottish Premier League title race after being held to a goalless draw at Dundee United yesterday.
The Glasgow side also had Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos sent off in the last minute for a second booking after he barged into United’s Trinidad and Tobago substitute Collin Samuel.
The draw leaves Rangers in fourth place with 17 points, nine behind leaders Hearts after they drew 1-1 on Saturday at Celtic, who are second with 23 points ahead of Hibernian on 19.
Frankfurt Move Up From Bottom
With Win Over Duisburg
In Frankfurt, Eintracht Frankfurt moved off the bottom of the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win away to fellow strugglers MSV Duisburg yesterday.
Frankfurt, who won promotion with Duisburg last season, took the lead in the 27th minute when Spain’s Francisco Copado crossed low for Alexander Meier to tap in at the far post.
Friedhelm Funkel’s side continued to attack and cooler finishing would have brought them an easier win from their best performance of the season.
Frankfurt’s second victory of the campaign took them up to 16th place, still in the relegation zone but now only on goal difference.
Duisburg dropped to 17th, with Nuremberg sinking to the bottom following their 6-2 defeat by new leaders Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Hanover 96 climbed from 14th to 11th with a 4-1 win away to Cologne in yesterday’s other game. Thomas Brdaric improved his chances of bagging a place in Germany’s World Cup squad by scoring two of the goals. With nine games played, Bremen lead the standings with 22 points, ahead of Bayern Munich on goal difference after the champions were held to a 1-1 draw at Schalke 04 on Saturday.
