Roma Hang On To Top Spot, Juve Make Their Move
MILAN, Feb 3 (AFP) - AS Roma hung onto top spot in the Italian first division by their fingertips on Sunday, coming from 2-0 down to snatch a 2-2 draw at struggling Fiorentina.
Goals from Domenico Morfeo and Adriano left the home side looking good for a shock win in a match played in a white-hot atmosphere but the defending champions showed true grit with second half goals from Antonio Cassano and Emerson preserving a wafer-thin one-point lead over Inter Milan and Juventus.
Had Morfeo scored instead of hitting the woodwork in injury time Roma would have had to share top spot.
Juventus are the division's form horses, however, and posted their sixth consecutive Serie A win at home to Lecce, prevailing 3-0 thanks to goals from Antonio Conte, David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero to move level in second with Inter, held 0-0 at the San Siro by Torino on Saturday night.
That sets up a mouth-watering clash between Roma and Juve next week.
At Florence, Fiorentina made a brilliant start in a highly-charged match policed by 1000 members of the security forces, quickly moving 2-0 up.
After Morfeo's opener Brazilian Adriano made it 2-0 with a fine freekick, his third in four matches since joining from Inter Milan on loan, although he was booked for over-celebrating.
But headers from substitute Cassano and Brazilian Emerson pulled the defending champions level before Morfeo's dramatic late miss.
"They (Fiorentina) may be struggling but they gave us absolutely nothing," said Roma coach Fabio Capello. "We did very well to get something out of this match."
Fiorentina skipper Angelo Di Livio lamented: "If we continue to lose points like this it will be very hard to stay up."
At Turin, Juventus took the lead at the Stadio Delle Alpi when Conte headed a Gianluca Pessotto cross home.
In the second half Frenchman Trezeguet made it 2-0 and then Del Piero's penalty left Lecce coach Delio Rossi with no illusions about how difficult it will be to stay in Serie A.
Juve coach Marcello Lippi said: "The team is in fine fettle, they are playing with conviction and we are still well in contention in all the competitions."
Rossi stayed upbeat, saying: "It was a pleasure to play a club like Juventus. They are the best in the division at the moment."
