Seedorf strike piles pressure on Inter
Reuters - Sunday 14 March 2010, 22:12
MILAN - Substitute Clarence Seedorf
fired in a thunderous strike in stoppage time to give AC Milan a
1-0 win over Chievo and slash the gap with Serie A leaders Inter
Milan to a point.
Inter lost 3-1 at Catania on Friday and second-placed Milan
looked to have wasted their chance to put huge pressure on the
stuttering leaders until the Dutchman found the top corner from
the edge of the box.
Mid-table Chievo hit the post and had a goal debatably ruled
out for offside and Milan's David Beckham suffered a suspected
ruptured Achilles tendon which threatens his World Cup with
England.
"I'm very happy because tonight was tough. Inter know we are
only a point away and we'll fight for the championship until the
end," Seedorf told Sky TV after Milan got over their Champions
League elimination by Manchester United in midweek.
"Inter's loss allowed us to quickly forget the Champions
League defeat," added a jubilant Seedorf, who has not always
been a favourite of the San Siro crowd.
Inter have won just one league game in six and held a
nine-point lead in mid-February.
Third-placed AS Roma were held 3-3 at Livorno amid a flurry
goals in the afternoon kick-offs, which summed up the poor
standard of Serie A rather than its great excitement.
A Cristiano Lucarelli hat-trick for third-bottom Livorno
meant Roma could only move to within six points of champions
Inter with 10 games left.
Simone Perrotta and Luca Toni helped put Claudio Ranieri's
side 2-1 up and David Pizarro made it 3-2 before the Chilean hit
the post with a penalty and Lucarelli levelled the scores from
the spot on 71 minutes after Juan's handball.
Palermo stayed fourth despite a 3-2 defeat at Udinese, who
went seven clear of the drop zone largely thanks to goals either
side of the break from striker Antonio Floro Flores.
HAPLESS GRYGERA
Juventus, enduring a nightmare season, could have gone above
the Sicilians into the fourth and final Champions League
qualifying spot but blew a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with
bottom side Siena in Turin.
Alessandro Del Piero scored his 300th and 301st career goals
inside the first seven minutes with a close-range finish and
superb volley before Antonio Candreva thumped in a third.
Siena hit back through Massimo Maccarone and Abdelkader
Ghezzal, who then netted a leveller from the spot on 74 minutes
after hapless Juve defender Zdenek Grygera fouled Maccarone.
Sampdoria are a point behind fifth-placed Juventus after a
1-1 draw at Bologna, whose injury-time equaliser looked offside.
Samp's city rivals Genoa, two points further back, enlivened
their hopes of Europa League football next season with a
thrilling 5-3 victory over Cagliari.
Parma beat second bottom Atalanta 1-0 while famous Roman
club Lazio remain in deep trouble, two points above the
relegation zone, following a harrowing 2-0 home defeat by Bari.
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