Serie A
A Milanese mishap
AFP, Rome
Juventus pulled three points clear at the top of Italy's Serie A on Sunday after they thrashed Lecce 5-2 and title rivals AC Milan suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Siena. Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahi-movic scored a hat-trick to take his season's league tally to 15 as Juve bounced back from their Champions League exit to Liverpool on Wednesday with an emphatic victory in Turin. Mirko Vucinic gave Lecce a surprise early lead with a superb overhead kick, before Stephen Appiah's cool finish drew Juve level. Two clinical strikes from Ibrahimovic gave Juve a 3-1 interval advantage and Pavel Nedved's right-footed drive in the 56th minute put the result beyond doubt. Ibrahimovic completed his treble with a sublime curling shot eight minutes from time before Sam Dalla Bona converted a late penalty for the Puglian visitors. Hernan Crespo's angled drive gave Milan a 63rd minute lead at Siena, but the title-holders failed to kill the game off despite numerous chances and the Tuscan strugglers battled back for a memorable victory. Enrico Chiesa equalised when his shot was cleared off the line by Manuel Rui Costa, only to ricochet back into the net off the post. Milan, the only Italian team left in the Champions League, piled forward in search of a winner, but they were caught on the counter-attack four minutes from time. Giovanni Pasquale tore down the left wing and his pinpoint cross found Francesco Cozza whose bullet header at the back post gave Nelson Dida no chance. Juve have 70 points from their 31 matches played, three more than Milan with just seven games of the season left. Inter, whose fans forced the abandonment of Tuesday's Champions League match against Milan by repeatedly throwing flares on to the pitch, won 2-0 at home to Cagliari to strengthen their position in third place. Brazilian midfielder Jose Ze Maria gave Inter a half-time lead before Obafemi Martins' solo effort sealed victory at the San Siro. Cristiano Lucarelli scored both goals as Livorno beat Tuscan rivals Fiorentina 2-0, while Brescia edged the Lombardy derby against fellow relegation candidates thanks to a stoppage time penalty. Luigi Di Biagio's first kick was saved, but the referee ruled that the keeper had moved and the Brescia midfielder made no mistake with his second attempt. The match, which has a history of crowd trouble, passed off peacefully with 500 police officers on duty to keep rival fans apart. Tommaso Rocchi grabbed the winner as Lazio came from behind to win 2-1 at Bologna, while Chievo beat Parma 2-0 in a relegation dogfight in Verona. On Saturday, Sampdoria climbed above Udinese into fourth place after a controversial 1-0 home victory over Palermo. The Sicilian visitors dominated the match but ended up empty-handed after Sampdoria were awarded a highly dubious penalty in stoppage time. Francesco Flachi's scissor kick struck Fabio Grosso on the hand and the referee pointed to the spot, even though the offence looked unintentional. Flachi converted the spot-kick for his 12th goal of the season. Sampdoria have 51 points, four more than Palermo who remain in sixth position. Udinese fell one place to fifth after their 1-0 defeat at Messina where Serbian striker Ivica Iliev scored the decisive goal. In Saturday's other match, Reggina came from behind to beat Roma 2-1 in the capital.
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