Roma's Lead Cut As Juve and Lazio Win
ROME, Jan 14 (Reuters)(DS) - AS Roma needed a late penalty from captain Francesco Totti to salvage a 1-1 home draw against bottom club Bari on Sunday and saw their lead at the top of the Italian first division cut to six points. The shock result gave hope to second-placed Juventus, who edged Bologna 1-0 in an equally tough match in Turin.
Champions Lazio gave Dino Zoff a triumphant return to their bench by winning 4-3 at Udinese, who almost snatched a draw despite conceding two first half goals and playing most of the tie in 10 men after defender Valerio Bertotto was sent off.
And Arrigo Sacchi's return to Parma after a 14-year absence ended in a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan at the San Siro, scene of Sacchi's greatest successes as coach of AC Milan.
The results left Roma on 33 points from their 14 matches to 27 for Juventus. Fiorentina, who crushed AC Milan 4-0 on Saturday, are third on 24 points, level with Lazio. Roma had won all but one of their previous home games and were favourites to beat Bari, without an away win all season.
But Giuseppe Mazzarelli stunned 60,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium when he curled a free kick inside goalkeeper Cristiano Lupatelli's right-hand post in the 69th minute. The Roma defence appeared to be taken by surprise by the shot.
Six minutes later, Totti was tripped inside the box by Argentine midfielder Diego Markic and got up to drive home the spot kick and save Roma's blushes. Bari ended the match with 10 men after Antonio Bellavista was sent off a minute from time for a second bookable offence.
TREZEGUET HEADER
Juventus took the lead in Turin through a header from Frenchman David Trezeguet in the 11th minute but although his strike partner Filippo Inzaghi hit the woodwork, Juve failed to put the match beyond their opponents' reach.
With 13 minutes to play, Juve gave away a penalty when Michele Paramatti was judged to have handled in the box. But Argentine striker Julio Cruz, facing goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar for the first time since they played against one another in the Dutch league, blasted his kick over the bar to let Juventus off the hook.
"I've always said that Juve are the number one danger," Roma coach Fabio Capello said. "But Fiorentina are a great side. We did well to beat them here (earlier this season) but they showed then they are a good team."
"Clearly, Bari played a good match and had better chances than us," he said. "Roma didn't play their usual game today and (Bari's goal) should serve as a lesson to us."
Dino Zoff's reputation for defensive football was belied by his side's amazing win at Udinese, where the former World Cup winning goalkeeper started his phenomenal playing career.
PERFECT START
Zoff's first league match in charge of the Rome side started perfectly -- Lazio established a 2-0 lead through an own goal and a Hernan Crespo penalty.
Bertotto was sent off for the handball wich led to Crespo's spot kick and Marcelo Salas put Lazio 3-0 up after the break. But Udinese refused to lie down and die. They pulled three goals back in the second half through Stefano Fiore (47), Massimo Margiotta (64) and Roberto Carlos Sosa (85) and almost equalised in injury time. In the end, Crespo's second goal of the match in the 50th minute proved to be Lazio's winner.
Marco Di Vaio headed Parma into the lead in the 32nd minute at the San Siro and for much of the match the visitors looked capable of giving Sacchi a winning return to Serie A. But in the 69th minute Turkish forward Hakan Sukur nodded the ball down to Christian Vieri and the big Italy striker, who has yet to rediscover his touch since his return from injury, took the ball on the bounce and slammed it past goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to ensure the tie ended 1-1.
Atalanta Bergamo, who have surprised many by chasing Roma and Juventus to the top of the league since their return from Serie B, lost 1-0 at Reggina and slip to fifth on 22 points. Napoli threw away a 1-0 lead in the final 10 minutes of their match at Verona and lost 2-1 to slither back into the bottom four while Lecce beat Vicenza 3-1.
