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Inter Milan wins 3-2 at Udinese in Serie A
Source: Agencies |
March 1, 2010, Monday
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INTER Milan scored three first half goals to beat Udinese 3-2 away yesterday and maintain its four point lead at the top of Serie A.
Mario Balotelli, Maicon and Diego Milito scored after Simone Pepe had given Udinese an early lead. Antonio Di Natale converted a penalty shortly after the restart, but Jose Mourinho's team held on for the win.
Inter is top with 58 points, four ahead of AC Milan, with AS Roma third on 51. Palermo moved up to fourth with 43 points after a 2-0 win at Juventus, courtesy of goals from Fabio Miccoli and Igor Budan.
Milan comfortably beat Atalanta 3-1. Alexandre Pato scored twice in the first half, Jaime Valdes responded for Atalanta, but Marco Borriello found the net to secure the win for Milan.
Roma lost ground in its pursuit of Milan with a 2-2 draw at Napoli. Julio Baptista and Mirko Vucinic put Roma 2-0 ahead, but German Denis brought Napoli back into the match in the 75th minute and Marek Hamsik scored an injury time penalty for a share of the points.
Also yesterday, it was; Chievo Verona 2, Cagliari 1; Genoa 3, Bologna 4; Livorno 1, Siena 2; Parma 1, Sampdoria 0.
Udinese, just two places above the relegation zone, took the lead in the second minute when Di Natale slipped a through ball to Pepe, who ran behind Maicon and shot past Inter keeper Julio Cesar.
Inter leveled four minutes later, with Balotelli unleashing a shot from outside the area, before Maicon atoned for his earlier error by putting Inter into the lead, linking up with Milito and Pandev to fire past Udinese keeper Samir Handanovic.
Milito grabbed the third in first half injury time, glancing a header past Handanovic.
Di Natale pulled a goal back for Udinese with a penalty in the 52nd minute and his side might have equalized with the last kick of the game when Gokhan Inler hit the bar.
"It wasn't easy winning here," Inter technical director Marco Branca said. "Udinese is an excellent team that doesn't deserve to be where it is in the table. We showed what we can do. We had an excellent first half and it allowed us to stay in control when Udinese came back at us.
"It's a very important three points," he said. "It was a team victory and came after a tough week, physically and mentally."
At San Siro, Milan made a slow start but led 2-0 at halftime through two Pato goals. The first came in the 30th when he volleyed in Massimo Ambrosini's cross and his second followed in 41st when Ronaldinho chipped over the defense for him to round Andrea Consigli and score.
Valdes brought Atalanta back into the match with a long range shot, but Borriello made it 3-1 when he was first to the rebound after Consigli had blocked a penalty from Ronaldinho.
"Today we had our difficulties," Milan coach Leonardo said. "We tried to start the game with some real intensity, but we had a tricky spell and used up a lot of energy. We took advantage of two good chances and were able to raise our game.
Paying tribute to his Brazilian playmaker, Leonardo added: "Ronaldinho was great and is in fantastic form. He gives us a constant outlet and is able to cover a lot of ground. Next week against Roma will be great as it gives us the chance to widen the gap between us even more."
In Naples, Fabio Quagliarella had the home side's best chance of the first half, but he headed into the ground and over the bar. Roma took advantage of his profligacy early in the second period when Baptista converted a penalty.
Vucinic doubled the lead in the 65th minute when he controlled the ball on his chest and volleyed past Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis.
But Denis pulled a goal back for Napoli with a left-footed volley midway through the second half and Hamsik held his nerve to score from the spot after Philippe Mexes was controversially judged to have handled the ball in the area.
Though measured in his comments, Roma coach Claudio Ranieri made it clear he was unhappy with the penalty incident.
"The referee did what he did," Ranieri said. "Evidently, the referee didn't see it very well. But I don't want to make a fuss, because referees have a difficult enough job. It is a shame, because we were winning a tricky match and had to work hard for to get in that position."
As for the title race, Ranieri said: "Inter is setting a pace that probably only Milan can keep up with. Nonetheless we are having an excellent championship."
Juventus, on 41 points, dropped down a place in the standings after its home defeat in Turin.
There was little that keeper Alex Manninger could do to stop Miccoli from opening the scoring on the hour mark. Palermo's captain cut inside from the left wing and curled a shot over Manninger into the far corner.
Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro had a goal ruled out shortly afterward for offside and with nine minutes remaining Budan intercepted a weak backpass from Zdenek Grygera before rounding Manninger to score.
"It is a great feeling and was a great goal," Miccoli said. "I'm happy for myself, but above all for the team. We are finally there - we have been trying to get into the Champions League places for a long time. We are fourth, but now we have to think about Livorno in our next game."
Mario Balotelli, Maicon and Diego Milito scored after Simone Pepe had given Udinese an early lead. Antonio Di Natale converted a penalty shortly after the restart, but Jose Mourinho's team held on for the win.
Inter is top with 58 points, four ahead of AC Milan, with AS Roma third on 51. Palermo moved up to fourth with 43 points after a 2-0 win at Juventus, courtesy of goals from Fabio Miccoli and Igor Budan.
Milan comfortably beat Atalanta 3-1. Alexandre Pato scored twice in the first half, Jaime Valdes responded for Atalanta, but Marco Borriello found the net to secure the win for Milan.
Roma lost ground in its pursuit of Milan with a 2-2 draw at Napoli. Julio Baptista and Mirko Vucinic put Roma 2-0 ahead, but German Denis brought Napoli back into the match in the 75th minute and Marek Hamsik scored an injury time penalty for a share of the points.
Also yesterday, it was; Chievo Verona 2, Cagliari 1; Genoa 3, Bologna 4; Livorno 1, Siena 2; Parma 1, Sampdoria 0.
Udinese, just two places above the relegation zone, took the lead in the second minute when Di Natale slipped a through ball to Pepe, who ran behind Maicon and shot past Inter keeper Julio Cesar.
Inter leveled four minutes later, with Balotelli unleashing a shot from outside the area, before Maicon atoned for his earlier error by putting Inter into the lead, linking up with Milito and Pandev to fire past Udinese keeper Samir Handanovic.
Milito grabbed the third in first half injury time, glancing a header past Handanovic.
Di Natale pulled a goal back for Udinese with a penalty in the 52nd minute and his side might have equalized with the last kick of the game when Gokhan Inler hit the bar.
"It wasn't easy winning here," Inter technical director Marco Branca said. "Udinese is an excellent team that doesn't deserve to be where it is in the table. We showed what we can do. We had an excellent first half and it allowed us to stay in control when Udinese came back at us.
"It's a very important three points," he said. "It was a team victory and came after a tough week, physically and mentally."
At San Siro, Milan made a slow start but led 2-0 at halftime through two Pato goals. The first came in the 30th when he volleyed in Massimo Ambrosini's cross and his second followed in 41st when Ronaldinho chipped over the defense for him to round Andrea Consigli and score.
Valdes brought Atalanta back into the match with a long range shot, but Borriello made it 3-1 when he was first to the rebound after Consigli had blocked a penalty from Ronaldinho.
"Today we had our difficulties," Milan coach Leonardo said. "We tried to start the game with some real intensity, but we had a tricky spell and used up a lot of energy. We took advantage of two good chances and were able to raise our game.
Paying tribute to his Brazilian playmaker, Leonardo added: "Ronaldinho was great and is in fantastic form. He gives us a constant outlet and is able to cover a lot of ground. Next week against Roma will be great as it gives us the chance to widen the gap between us even more."
In Naples, Fabio Quagliarella had the home side's best chance of the first half, but he headed into the ground and over the bar. Roma took advantage of his profligacy early in the second period when Baptista converted a penalty.
Vucinic doubled the lead in the 65th minute when he controlled the ball on his chest and volleyed past Napoli keeper Morgan De Sanctis.
But Denis pulled a goal back for Napoli with a left-footed volley midway through the second half and Hamsik held his nerve to score from the spot after Philippe Mexes was controversially judged to have handled the ball in the area.
Though measured in his comments, Roma coach Claudio Ranieri made it clear he was unhappy with the penalty incident.
"The referee did what he did," Ranieri said. "Evidently, the referee didn't see it very well. But I don't want to make a fuss, because referees have a difficult enough job. It is a shame, because we were winning a tricky match and had to work hard for to get in that position."
As for the title race, Ranieri said: "Inter is setting a pace that probably only Milan can keep up with. Nonetheless we are having an excellent championship."
Juventus, on 41 points, dropped down a place in the standings after its home defeat in Turin.
There was little that keeper Alex Manninger could do to stop Miccoli from opening the scoring on the hour mark. Palermo's captain cut inside from the left wing and curled a shot over Manninger into the far corner.
Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro had a goal ruled out shortly afterward for offside and with nine minutes remaining Budan intercepted a weak backpass from Zdenek Grygera before rounding Manninger to score.
"It is a great feeling and was a great goal," Miccoli said. "I'm happy for myself, but above all for the team. We are finally there - we have been trying to get into the Champions League places for a long time. We are fourth, but now we have to think about Livorno in our next game."
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