Rome: Defensive horror shows at three
corners saw AC Milan humiliate Juventus 3-0 at Turin's Stadio
Olimpico and all but end their rivals' Serie A title hopes and
leave coach Ciro Ferrara's job on the line.
Yesterday's victory meant Milan moved to within eight
points of leaders Inter Milan with a game in hand and the
Milan derby to come in two weeks time.
A victory for the rossoneri in that would ensure the
champions come under much greater pressure than they have in
their previous four title triumphs.
Juve are 12 points back and have lost six of their last
eight matches in all competitions. Alessandro Nesta and a
Ronaldinho brace settled the affair but all three goals were
due to Juve's inept defending at corners.
Milan coach Leonardo denied the Old Lady of Turin had
made life easy for his team, though.
"Honestly it was very difficult, especially in the first
first half when we needed some time to get organised," he
said.
"We struggled but we didn't give up many chances, we
didn't create a lot but we conceded even less. The second half
was perfect, we managed to hold the ball, pass it quickly and
we gave Juve problems."
It was an unsurprisingly tentative start from both teams
but Juve playmaker Diego tried to spark the game into life on
13 minutes as he cut in from the left and curled a right-foot
shot just wide of the far post.
However, 'The Old Lady' fell behind on 29 minutes after a
defensive disaster.
Andrea Pirlo's corner was poor and sent in low to the
near post but Christian Poulsen left it, Felipe Melo missed
it, goalkeeper Alex Manninger was caught unawares leaving
Nesta, whose marker Zdenek Grygera had stopped, the simple
task of tapping home from two yards out at the back post.
Juve did belatedly react but it was centre-back Giorgio
Chiellini, their best player, whose shot was straight at
goalkeeper Dida after his central defensive partner Fabio
Cannavaro's weak effort fell to him.
Milan, though, finished the half on a high as Manninger
parried Thiago Silva's long range strike before Ronaldinho's
header from David Beckham's corner was deflected behind.
Juve failed to exert much pressure after the break
despite the introduction of Alessandro Del Piero on the hour
mark and Chiellini was proving their most dangerous threat
from set-pieces, without actually troubling Dida.
The win was secured on 72 minutes as another unimpressive
Pirlo corner found Ronaldinho six yards wider than the near
post but his flicked header skimmed off Paolo De Ceglie's head
and beat Manninger at his front post.
Two minutes from time Beckham took a short corner and
then crossed from the right with Juve's hapless defensive
again missing the ball and a surprised Ronaldinho tapping home
at the back post from six yards.
In earlier games, Napoli extended their unbeaten run
under coach Walter Mazzarri to 14 games following a 1-0 home
victory against Sampdoria that boosted their growing challenge
for a top four finish.
German Denis's second half goal earned the southerners
three points that leaves them fourth in the Serie A table,
just goal difference behind Juventus and a point above AS
Roma.
They have not been beaten since October - 13 league games
and one cup match - when former Sampdoria boss Mazzarri took
over from the sacked former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni.
Mazzarri refused to get carried away, though.
"We'll add up the points at the end of the season, this
league is very balanced, it's the details that will make the
differences," he said.
French goalkeeper Sebastien Frey made two crucial second
half stops to help Fiorentina beat Bari 2-1 in Florence and go
sixth.
Romania captain Adrian Mutu had cancelled out Paulo
Barreto's opener in the first period before substitute Jose
Castillo grabbed the winner as both teams finished with 10
men.
Palermo are level on points with Fiorentina after
Uruguayan forward Edison Cavani's penalty gave them a 1-0 win
over coach-less Atalanta.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, January 11, 2010, 10:55