Roma sinks Inter; Barca on course
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A LUCA Toni goal gave AS Roma a thrilling 2-1 home win over Inter Milan on Saturday that took it within a point of the Serie A leader and kept the three-way title race wide open approaching the final stretch.
The striker controlled a mis-hit Rodrigo Taddei shot and fired home in the 72nd minute as the hosts continued their remarkable recovery from the disarray they found themselves in at the start of the season.
Inter's Diego Milito had equalized just six minutes earlier with a goal that looked offside, after Roma's Daniele De Rossi opened the scoring in the 17th by capitalizing on a blunder by goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Champion Inter hit the woodwork three times, the last occasion from Milito deep in stoppage time.
Third-placed AC Milan can pull level with Roma on 62 points with seven games to go if it overcomes injuries, suspensions and poor form to beat Lazio at home.
"This is a great, beautiful night," Toni told Sky Television. "We've been chasing for a while.
"It was important to win tonight to try to realize a dream. Now we're a point away we'll see what happens."
Roma was on top for most of the first half, with Mirko Vucinic and John Arne Riise going close after De Rossi tapped the ball in when Cesar spilled a Nicolas Burdisso header.
Hamstring problem
Argentine forward Milito, back after missing Wednesday's 3-0 win over Livorno with a hamstring problem, hit the upright before scoring a goal that should probably have been disallowed for offside against Goran Pandev earlier in the move.
Toni struck soon after to extend Roma's unbeaten league run to 21 games while the post denied Milito at the death.
Elsewhere, Palermo consolidated fourth place, which is worth a slot in next season's Champions League preliminaries, with a 3-1 home win over Bologna courtesy of a Fabrizio Miccoli hat-trick.
In Spain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for the third straight match to fire Barcelona to a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Mallorca on Saturday and send the champion three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
The Sweden striker smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range in the 63rd for his 15th league goal of the campaign to end Mallorca's stubborn resistance and lift his side to 74 points from 29 matches.
Real, which hosts Barcelona in two weeks for the potentially decisive "Clasico", can climb back above its arch rival on goal difference with a win at home to Atletico Madrid.
The Catalans survived some late pressure and the defeat leaves Mallorca in fourth place on 47 points, two ahead of Sevilla, which was at Villarreal yesterday in new coach Antonio Alvarez's first match in charge.
Valencia is third on 53 points despite a 0-3 loss at Zaragoza. The visitors had Nikola Zigic sent off for a second yellow card just before halftime in a bruising clash.
Earlier, Malaga wasted a chance to open up some breathing room above the drop zone as it surrendered a late penalty to draw 1-1 with Tenerife.
The striker controlled a mis-hit Rodrigo Taddei shot and fired home in the 72nd minute as the hosts continued their remarkable recovery from the disarray they found themselves in at the start of the season.
Inter's Diego Milito had equalized just six minutes earlier with a goal that looked offside, after Roma's Daniele De Rossi opened the scoring in the 17th by capitalizing on a blunder by goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Champion Inter hit the woodwork three times, the last occasion from Milito deep in stoppage time.
Third-placed AC Milan can pull level with Roma on 62 points with seven games to go if it overcomes injuries, suspensions and poor form to beat Lazio at home.
"This is a great, beautiful night," Toni told Sky Television. "We've been chasing for a while.
"It was important to win tonight to try to realize a dream. Now we're a point away we'll see what happens."
Roma was on top for most of the first half, with Mirko Vucinic and John Arne Riise going close after De Rossi tapped the ball in when Cesar spilled a Nicolas Burdisso header.
Hamstring problem
Argentine forward Milito, back after missing Wednesday's 3-0 win over Livorno with a hamstring problem, hit the upright before scoring a goal that should probably have been disallowed for offside against Goran Pandev earlier in the move.
Toni struck soon after to extend Roma's unbeaten league run to 21 games while the post denied Milito at the death.
Elsewhere, Palermo consolidated fourth place, which is worth a slot in next season's Champions League preliminaries, with a 3-1 home win over Bologna courtesy of a Fabrizio Miccoli hat-trick.
In Spain, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for the third straight match to fire Barcelona to a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Mallorca on Saturday and send the champion three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
The Sweden striker smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range in the 63rd for his 15th league goal of the campaign to end Mallorca's stubborn resistance and lift his side to 74 points from 29 matches.
Real, which hosts Barcelona in two weeks for the potentially decisive "Clasico", can climb back above its arch rival on goal difference with a win at home to Atletico Madrid.
The Catalans survived some late pressure and the defeat leaves Mallorca in fourth place on 47 points, two ahead of Sevilla, which was at Villarreal yesterday in new coach Antonio Alvarez's first match in charge.
Valencia is third on 53 points despite a 0-3 loss at Zaragoza. The visitors had Nikola Zigic sent off for a second yellow card just before halftime in a bruising clash.
Earlier, Malaga wasted a chance to open up some breathing room above the drop zone as it surrendered a late penalty to draw 1-1 with Tenerife.
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