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| Wednesday, November 6, 2002 18:10 EST |
Nedved delivers winning strike for Juventus
[Reuters]
ROME -- Inter Milan maintained its
three-point lead at the top of Serie A with a 4-3 win at Empoli
in the rescheduled first round of Serie A matches on Wednesday.
Inter went 2-0 up in the first 11 minutes, with goals by
Hernan Crespo and Javier Zanetti, but was forced to sweat it
out as a determined Empoli battled back into the match.
Inter's city rivals AC Milan needed a 90th-minute deflection
from a Rivaldo free kick to beat Udinese and hold second place,
a point ahead of champions Juventus who won 1-0 at Piacenza.
Fourth-placed Lazio continued its impressive run of form
by beating Reggina 3-0 for the club's fourth away win this season.
The night belonged to the big teams, though not all of them
won easily.
Inter was always ahead of Empoli, thanks to goals by
Crespo, Zanetti and Alvaro Recoba, but the home side struck back
twice, limiting the visitors to a one-goal lead.
An 85th-minute goal by Inter defender Daniele Adani seemed
to seal the match at 4-2 but even then Empoli kept pressing and
striker Francesco Tavano scored in injury time to put the result
in doubt right until the final whistle.
It was the same story, though with a more conventional
scoreline, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, where AC Milan
squeezed past Udinese thanks to Rivaldo's deflected free kick.
Milan seemed strangely subdued throughout the match.
Striker Filippo Inzaghi missed a penalty and the visitors
were unlucky not to take the lead in the 37th minute when
midfielder Martin Jorgensen's header came off the bar.
Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti had hoped to rest Rivaldo ahead
of his side's Champions League match next week, but with his
team struggling to score Gennaro Gattuso was replaced by the
Brazilian ace.
Last season Juventus' Pavel Nedved scored a late winner
against Piacenza to keep his side in the title race.
On Wednesday he did the same again, coming off the bench to
fire in a 70th-minute grasscutter to give the champions a 1-0
victory.
Both Roman teams enjoyed wins over low-ranked opposition.
Lazio's 3-0 victory over Reggina came courtesty of goals by
Stefano Fiore, Dejan Stankovic and Bernardo Corradi, while AS
Roma's Francesco Totti grabbed his eighth of the season to seal
a 2-1 win over Como and make him this season's top striker.
Chievo's comfortable 3-0 win over Perugia lifted the club to
fifth in Serie A, and Parma won a see-saw match with Brescia
4-3, Alberto Gilardino driving home the winner in the 74th
minute.
At the other end of the table, Torino lifted itself off
the bottom with a 2-1 win over Bologna, but the misery deepened
for bottom club Atalanta who slid to its sixth defeat in eight
matches, going down 3-1 at home to Modena.
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