Chievo Falter; Juventus Advance To Third
MILAN, Nov 18 (AFP) - A thrilling 3-2 victory for Verona in the city derby Sunday saw surprise Italian first division leaders Chievo crash to only their second defeat in 10 outings in their debut Serie A season.
Verona overturned a 2-0 Chievo lead to inflict the second reverse of the season on Luigi del Neri's side whose previous setback at the hands of Juventus also came after they had led 2-0. Chievo's lead is now cut to a single point.
First-half strikes from Brazilian Eriberto and a Eugenio Corini penalty appeared to have put Chievo on course for a four-point lead after a weekend where Juventus, 3-1 victors over Parma, were the only leading side to win.
But a Massimo Oddo penalty immediately reopened the game. After the break Chievo striker Massimo Marazzina was sent off and Verona - known locally as Hellas Verona because of the city's Greek community - levelled when Chievo's Salvatore Lanna scored a farcical own goal.
Almost immediately Argentinian Mauro German Camoranesi scored the winner to the delight of the bulk of the 41,000 capacity crowd at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi shared by both teams.
The only consolation for Chievo was that they remain top over Inter Milan, held 0-0 by champions AS Roma on Saturday.
Earlier strikers David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero helped Juventus end a six-match domestic winless streak.
Second-half goals from both men - Frenchman Trezeguet had already scored before the break - ensured a losing Serie A start for Parma's new Argentinian coach Daniel Passarella and lifts Juve to joint third.
Earlier Parma's French midfielder Sabri Lamouchi equalised Trezeguet's opener with a shot that took a deflection off Gianluca Zambrotta but the game tilted towards Juve when Parma's Argentinian midfielder Mathias Almeyda was sent off for an innocuous foul.
Juventus coach Marcello Lippi said: "We are back on the winning path and that's important but the spirit has always been good here."
Meanwhile, Bologna missed a chance to grab a share of top spot when they were defeated 1-0 at Lecce thanks to a fine Bruno Cirillo goal - Inter Milan themselves failed to grab pole position Saturday night when they were held 0-0 by champions AS Roma.
Lecce had defender Alessandro Conticchio dismissed but goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti saved a late penalty from Bologna's Argentinian forward Julio Cruz.
New AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti saw his side held to a 0-0 draw by Piacenza at the San Siro in his first league appearance since replacing sacked Turk Fatih Terim.
Ancelotti had an unsatisfactory coaching league baptism at the San Siro, having to settle for a 0-0 draw with Piacenza.
Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta, a team-mate of Ancelotti in the great Milan side of the late 1980s, was red carded in the second half for a brutal challenge and Piacenza defender Filippo Cristante soon followed for a less clearcut offence.
"The team still seems to have problems expressing its talent," admitted Ancelotti.
Brescia striker Luca Toni gave his side an early lead at Perugia but the hosts hit back when Brazilian international Ze Maria converted an 18th-minute penalty following a foul on Giovanni Tedesco. It finished 1-1.
Lazio striker Hernan Crespo confirmed his return to form when he inspired his side's 4-1 win at nine-man Udinese.
Crespo gave Lazio a second-half lead and Udinese were further disadvantaged when their Italian international defender Valerio Bertotto was dismissed for earning a second yellow card.
Fabio Liverani added a second - his first since joining the Roman outfit from Perugia - before Honduran international Jorge Caballeros reduced the arrears for the northerners.
Substitute Claudio Lopez - also Argentinian - and Crespo's second ensured a handsome victory after Udinese's talented Ghanaian defender Mohammed Gargo also saw red.
Lazio coach Alberto Zaccheroni, who omitted Spanish midfielder Gaizka Mendieta and Stefano Fiore as he did in the recent match with Brescia, hinted at possible transfer outgoings when he said: "This victory is down to how our team has started to grow - something which began when we beat Brescia 5-0."
The plight of bottom club Venezia continued when they went down 1-0 to Atalanta at Bergamo. The home team opened the scoring through striker Fausto Rossini and the Venice outfit is still winless after 10 matches.
Atalanta's Luca Saudati and Venezia's Antonio Marasco were both sent off.
Fiorentina and Torino fought out a 0-0 draw in a basement battle at Florence.
On Saturday, champions AS Roma and Inter Milan also deadlocked 0-0 at the Olympic Stadium.
"It was a good game between two well-matched teams," said Roma's Fabio Capello.
His Inter counterpart Hector Cuper, an Argentinian, said: "Of course I think that Inter is capable of winning the Scudetto. Mind you having played Juve, AC Milan and Roma the same goes for them."
