Seria A roundup...

ibrahim

Bench Warmer
Oct 20, 2002
1,881
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Sydney
#1
AC Milan has closed the gap on Serie A leader Juventus to just two points thanks to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Lazio.

Things didn't look good for the home side when Lazio took the lead in the 56th minute thanks to a Massimo Oddo penalty, but introduction of substitute Andriy Shevchenko changed the match.

Shevchenko, back from an ankle injury, fired home a brilliant free kick with just 18 minutes left to get Milan back on level terms, and four minutes into stoppage time Hernan Crespo prodded home to send the home fans into raptures.

Udinese has moved up to third thanks to a 1-0 win at struggling Brescia.

Vincenzo Iaquinta netted the only goal of the game with just five minutes remaining, as Udinese took advantage of Inter Milan's 15th draw of the season to move within 10 points of leader Juventus.

Inter looked to be heading for its first league defeat of the season when it trailed 2-0 at Parma with 15 minutes remaining, but it hit back for a 2-2 draw to maintain its unbeaten record.

After Parma had come close through Socceroo midfielder Marco Bresciano, who had a shot which hit the crossbar, the home side went ahead on 36 minutes when the former Carlton star had another effort that was handled on the line by Inter defender Marco Materazzi.

Materazzi was immediately sent off, and Fabio Simplicio made no mistake with the resulting penalty.

On 59 minutes Alberto Gilardino made it 2-0 with a sublime overhead kick, but in the 76th minute Ivan Cordoba halved the deficit with a header.

And just five minutes later Cordoba was brought down in the area, allowing Christian Vieri to fire home his 100th Serie A goal for Inter and earn his side another point.

AS Roma squandered an early lead to draw 1-1 at home to Bologna.

Vincenzo Montella put the home side ahead on nine minutes, but on 61 minutes Bologna's Luigi Della Rocca netted to ensure the points were shared.

There were 1-0 wins for bottom club Atalanta over Livorno - Luigi Sala netted the only goal at the Stadio Atleti d'Azzurri on 23 minutes when a shot by Stephen Makinwa hit the veteran defender on the head and went in - and Chievo over Messina, while two late goals gave Reggina a 3-3 draw at home to Siena.

Finally, Cagliari defeated Lecce 3-1.