Roma Win But Juve And Lazio Maintain Challenge
Sunday, February 18, 2001
ROME, Feb 18 (Reuters) - AS Roma beat Lecce 1-0 on Sunday to protect their six-point lead in the Italian first division but Juventus and Lazio both won away by the same score to keep Fabio Capello's side on their toes.
Juventus edged out Bari courtesy of a brilliant 81st minute strike from Alessandro Del Piero, still grieving the midweek death of his father.
Lazio left it even later - Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone grabbed their winner at Perugia in the 88th minute.
An Argentine also gave Roma their hard-fought victory at the Olympic Stadium. Former Boca Juniors defender Walter Samuel scored the only goal in the 69th minute with a header at the back post from a Vincent Candela cross.
Roma have 45 points from 19 matches, Juventus 39 and Lazio 37. The three clubs have opened a six-point gap over the chasing pack with 15 matches to play.
Atalanta Bergamo were held 1-1 at home by lowly Vicenza and remained fourth on 31 points. Parma, beaten in the UEFA Cup last week, crushed Brescia 3-0 to improve to fifth on 29.
Fiorentina drew 1-1 at Reggina thanks to an early Enrico Chiesa goal while Inter Milan went down to a 1-0 at Napoli and stayed 10th.
Brazilian Matuzalem scored Napoli's winner with a bullet of a shot from outside the area but was sent off seconds later for celebrating his goal by taking off his shirt. He had been booked earlier.
For most of a dour match, Roma appeared to be suffering a hangover from their 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool in the UEFA Cup in midweek.
Their fans staged a 15-minute 'strike' at the start by refusing to sing. Their silent protest was aimed at police they blame for an incident at Bologna last weekend which left a Roma supporter in a coma.
Striker Vincenzo Montella came close to easing the tension when he hit the post at the end of the first half but otherwise chances were infrequent.
Lecce had two valid appeals for penalties turned down - the first for handball by Brazilian defender Zago and the second for an alleged foul by Samuel.
But Samuel's first goal since his move to Italy last year proved enough to give the leaders three points and hand them their 14th victory of the season.
'It was very difficult to get straight into the match today after the cup tie (against Liverpool), above all against aggressive, hostile opponents like Lecce,' Capello said.
'Juventus and Lazio are both on a par,' he said when asked about Roma's nearest rivals. 'The only difference is that Lazio have a series of important cup matches to play in Europe and naturally that will have some effect.
'Maybe because of that I fear Juventus a little bit more.' Things were just as tight at Bari, whose performance against Juve belied their position at the foot of the league.
Carlo Ancelotti's side needed a piece of genius from Del Piero, who carried the ball 30 metres into the penalty area, sold Moroccan defender Rachid Neqrouz a dummy and beat Belgian goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet with a delicate chip from an impossibly tight angle.
Lazio, like Roma, appeared to be suffering an aftershock from their midweek defeat at Real Madrid in the Champions League and, after losing striker Hernan Crespo to a stomach bug just before the match, were often outplayed by Perugia.
Simeone's winner, a chip from the edge of area which goalkeeper Andrea Mazzantini could only palm into his net, came against the run of play and gave the Rome club their fifth straight away victory in the league - a club record.
Atalanta have confounded everyone by chasing Italy's big guns into the Champions League positions at the top of the table and appeared set for another win when Nicola Ventola put them ahead shortly before halftime.
But Vincenzo Sommese equalised in the 70th minute to ensure Vicenza, 2-0 winners over AC Milan last week, continued to climb out of the relegation zone.
Three police officers were treated in hospital after being hit by a flare thrown from the stands in Bergamo. RAI state television reported that one of the three had lost three fingers in the incident.
Italian Cup finalists Parma produced the most convincing performance of the afternoon to beat Brescia.
All their three goals came in the second half. Cameroon's Patrick Mboma scored the first (54), Portuguese winger Sergio Conceicao the second (66) and Brazilian defender Junior the third (80).
