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Inter, AC Milan move closer to Serie A leader Juventus
(Ap)
Updated: 2005-12-19 11:26
ROME (AP) _ AC Milan and crosstown rival Inter Milan each won 4-0 Sunday to
move closer to Serie A leader Juventus.
Milan's Andrea
Pirlo (R) challenges Gaetano D'Agostino of Messina during their Italian
Serie A match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, northern Italy December
18, 2005. [Reuters] | Ivan Cordoba, Obafemi
Martins, Adriano and David Pizarro scored a goal each to lift Inter into sole
possession of second place after beating Reggina. Luis Figo set up the last
three goals.
Milan moved into third place by topping Messina with two goals from Andriy
Shevchenko and one each from Andrea Pirlo and Alberto Gilardino.
Juventus, which was held to a 1-1 by Lazio on Saturday, leads the league with
43 points. Inter is next with 35 points, followed by Milan with 34 and
Fiorentina with 33.
While Inter and AC Milan won easily, Fiorentina struggled to a 1-1 draw at
Empoli as striker Luca Toni was unable to score for the third straight match.
Toni, the league leading striker with 16 goals, still helped his team in the
70th when his shot struck the post and Giampaolo Pazzini tapped in the rebound.
Substitute Igli Vannucchi netted the equalizer three minutes later by
controlling a rebound and scoring.
Fiorentina was lucky to escape with the draw after an injury-time drive by
Francesco Tavano struck the crossbar and bounced out.
At Reggina, Inter got an early goal from Cordoba, who kicked in a rebound off
a save by Reggina goalkeeper Nicola Pavarini in the second minute.
Figo set up the goals by Martins in the 15th, Adriano in the 40th and Pizarro
in injury time.
"Eight or 10 points behind Juve make little difference," Inter coach Roberto
Mancini said. "We are the pursuers and we must hope that Juventus makes
mistakes. We are doing well in this period. There are 22 matches to go and
everything still is possible."
AC Milan, which was coming off consecutive defeats, got its first goal on a
dubious penalty converted by Shevchenko.
The Ukraine striker scored his eighth goal of the season to make it 2-0 in
the 47th with a left-footed shot off a heel assist by Kaka.
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