Zidane Steers Juventus to Another Serie A Win
Copyright � 2000 Nando Media
Copyright � 2000 Agence France-Presse
MILAN (January 23, 2000 5:24 p.m. EST http://www.sportserver.com) - French star Zinedine Zidane sent Juventus three points clear at the top of the Serie A on Sunday, scoring a stunning goal as the new title favorites beat Reggina 2-0.
Juventus took full advantage of Lazio's 0-0 draw at bottom-club Cagliari on Saturday, while two other title rivals also suffered setbacks - Milan drew 2-2 with Lecce and Parma lost 2-1 to Perugia.
Juventus lead the Serie A with 39 points, ahead of Lazio (36) and AS Roma (35), who beat Piacenza 2-1 on Saturday, with three more teams seven points adrift - Inter, AC Milan and Parma all on 32.
Yugoslav Darko Kovacevic, making his first league start for Juventus, gave his team a 35th-minute lead - meeting Alessandro Del Piero's corner from the left with a glancing header.
Zidane confirmed his superb run of form in the 64th minute, beating three men in the Reggina area before smacking an unstoppable shot under the bar.
Zidane, who cracked home a free-kick last Sunday against Perugia, took Juventus' unbeaten league run to 14 matches.
A cautious Ancelotti said: "The end of the season is still a long way off. We're happy at the way things are, but we know that three points is no guarantee of anything and it'll be hard going right through to the end."
As for Zidane, he said: "When a player adds to his performance with something like that, all you can do is applaud."
Roberto Baggio, who had a major falling out with coach Marcello Lippi and club officials just a month ago, was Inter's hero as they moved up to fourth place with a 2-1 win at Verona.
Inter's Uruguayan striker, Alvaro Recoba, hit the post with a 25-meter free-kick, but Verona's Dane Martin Laursen steered the ball home unmarked in the 34th minute after a cross from Domenico Morfeo.
Everything changed for Inter when Baggio came on for Argentinian
Javier Zanetti for the second half.
Baggio crossed into the middle for Vladimir Jugovic and the ball ran clear for Recoba to swivel round and score the equalizer.
And the favor was returned in the 73rd minute when Recoba broke down the left flank and supplied a pass for Baggio to flick home the winner.
It was sweet revenge for the popular Italian star, who was told by Lippi and his officials to look for another club last month after Baggio complained at his lack of appearances this season.
Lippi admitted: "Baggio did very well. Apart from the goal, he was important in other moves as well. I went and shook his hand after the goal - I hope he always plays like that."
Dismissing any friction with Baggio, he said: "I have't got a bad rapport with any of the players, and I'm happy for him (Baggio) today."
A beaming Baggio said: "The secret is always the same - to work hard and hope to do well when your moment comes.
"This is a goal which repays me for a a lot of disappointments and follows a very difficultly period," he said. "And it's a goal for all those people who thought that I wasn't playing because I wasn't fit."
AC Milan came from 2-0 down to snatch a 2-2 draw from Lecce after twice being punished by Cristiano Lucarelli.
Lucarelli volleyed Lecce into a 29th-minute lead and then pounced on a catastrophic back-pass by AC Milan's French defender Bruno N'Gotty to make it 2-0 in the 55th.
But Milan skipper Paolo Maldini pulled one back minutes later and German striker Oliver Bierhoff snatched an equalizer in a goal-mouth scramble, following a free-kick from Croatian substitute Zvonimir Boban.
Milan hit the woodwork twice in the dying minutes and coach Alberto Zaccheroni was philosophical about the result.
"As often happens, we created a lot of chances, and as often happens, we didn't convert them all," he said.
"But I can't complain about the performance. The team gave everything they have. There are days when things go your way and days they don't."
But he warned reporters at San Siro: "Don't write Milan off - you did that last season and we won the league."
Parma slipped to sixth place after the upset of the day saw them slump to a 2-1 home defeat to Perugia - a side who had lost their previous three games, with an aggregate score of 13-0.
Elsewhere, Gionatha Spinesi headed the 83rd-minute winner as Bari beat Fiorentina 1-0 and Udinese roared back from 1-0 down to crush Venezia 5-2.
Torino, who had ended a run of six consecutive defeats last weekend by beating Piacenza, notched a second straight win by defeating Bologna 2-1, thanks to two goals from center-forward Marco Ferrante.
