Juventus Suffer Third League Defeat, Lose 1-0 Against Lazio
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
MILAN (Dec 6, 1998 - 12:15 EST) - Juventus were facing their first real crisis for years on Sunday after the champions suffered their third league defeat in four games in a 1-0 home upset against Lazio.
On a day when Inter Milan snatched a last-minute 1-1 draw at Vicenza and AC Milan thrashed Udinese 3-0, Juventus fell seven points behind league leaders Fiorentina, raising major doubts about the Turin club.
Juventus, who have not won a league game since November 1 and appear lost without injured striker Alessandro Del Piero, were floored by an 81st minute strike by Lazio's Chilean ace Marcelo Salas.
Portuguese midfielder Sergio Conceicao sent over a free-kick, Salas chested the ball down and lashed it past Morgan De Sanctis, Juventus' second reserve goalkeeper making his debut in the Serie A.
Lazio, who beat Juventus 2-1 in last summer's Italian Super Cup in Turin, are the only club to have won at the Delle Alpi stadium this year.
The result will also be a hammer blow to Juventus' confidence as they prepare for Wednesday's European Champions League tie against Rosenborg, and to their faint chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
Inter Milan made a miserable start to their first league match under new coach Mircea Lucescu, conceding a penalty in the 21st minute when skipper Giuseppe Bergomi and Francesco Colonnese stopped Pasquale Luiso.
Luiso converted the spot-kick, although his team had already missed five scoring chances as Inter struggled to coordinate their game - managing only one shot at goal in the first half.
However, there was no shortage of drama in the second with Inter's Nigerian defender Taribo West, furious at being substituted by Frenchman Mickael Silvestre in the 51st minute, pulling off his jersey and throwing it at the new Romanian coach.
Vicenza had defender Nicola Diliso sent off for a second bookable offense in the 65th minute but Inter had Chilean Ivan Zamorano dismissed just three minutes later for kicking Massimo Beghetto.
Ronaldo ended a 28-day league absence by coming on as a substitute for French midfielder Benoit Cauet. And it was Lucescu's substitutes who saved the day in the second minute of injury-time.
Ronaldo struck a free-kick against the Vicenza wall, the ball ran free and Silvestre slotted it home - despite furious claims from the home side that the Frenchman was offside.
Vicenza finished with nine on the field, Marco Schenardi getting his marching orders in the fourth minute of injury time.
AC Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni and German striker Oliver Bierhoff meanwhile celebrated a resounding victory over their old club, Udinese.
Leonardo, who later went off to a standing ovation, also eased the personal crisis faced by Bierhoff, the Serie A's top scorer with Udinese last season - setting up his first league goal since October 4.
Elsewhere, Venezia beat Cagliari with an own goal, Piacenza drew 0-0 with Empoli and Salernitana finished 2-2 with Bari.
Fiorentina are three points clear at the top, ahead of AS Roma and Parma, who all played on Saturday.
