Del Piero Gives Juve Upper Hand In Cup Semi
MILAN, Jan 23 (AFP) - A late goal from substitute Alessandro Del Piero helped Juventus defeat arch-rivals AC Milan 2-1 Wednesday in an Italian Cup semi-final first leg match at the San Siro.
Del Piero's strike ensured his side completed a fine comeback after Alessandro Birindelli had equalised Javi Moreno's opener for Milan and must now be considered favourites to progress to the final after the second leg in Turin in a fortnight.
It also denied Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti the chance for revenge against the club that sacked him last season, unfairly in the view of many while Ancelotti's successor Marcello Lippi had a successful return to the San Siro where he had a less than memorable stint with Inter Milan.
Juve made most of the early running with Nicola Amoruso and then Dutchman Edgar Davids - who had the worst spell of his career with AC Milan - going close in this battle between the two most successful sides in the history of the Italian game.
On 38 minutes their veteran defender Ciro Ferrara struck the bar with a header from a Davids corner but within a minute Milan had taken the lead.
Their Spanish striker Moreno, who has had limited first-team opportunities in Serie A but has proved a potent weapon in the Cup, collected a pass from compatriot Jose Mari and fired a low shot past Juve's Uruguayan goalkeeper Fabian Carini.
It did not take long after the interval for Juve to hit back. The opportunity came when a freekick was awarded for a foul by Milan's Brazilian defender Roque Junior on Amoruso.
Alessio Tacchinardi tapped the ball to Birindelli and the full-back's shot found the net with a big deflection off Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso helping to outfox goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi.
Lippi then pulled off his master stroke when he introduced Del Piero for Amoruso 15 minutes later.
The move paid dividends just four minutes from time when Christian Zenoni escaped down the right side, beating Milan's defender Thomas Helveg and crossing to the far post where Del Piero rammed the ball into the roof of the net.
The earlier scheduled semi-final first leg match between Brescia and Parma was postponed in dramatic circumstances until January 30.
Match referee Graziano Cesari was just about to start the match when an official ran onto the pitch to inform him that a Brescia player Vittorio Mero had been killed in a car crash.
Many Brescia players, including captain Roberto Baggio, burst into tears when they heard the news and the game was quickly rescheduled.
