Chasing pack miss chance to overhaul Inter
Reuters - Sunday 26 September 2010, 20:54
MILAN - Inter Milan remained top of Serie
A despite Saturday's defeat at AS Roma after most of the
unlikely chasing pack lost on Sunday, leaving Lazio the main
beneficiaries five matches into the season.
It was also a good day for Juventus and their new Serbia
winger Milos Krasic, who opened his account for the club with a
hat-trick in a 4-2 home win over Cagliari which banished
memories of Thursday's 3-1 loss to Palermo.
The former CSKA Moscow player, who Juve fans liken to their
retired hero Pavel Nedved because of his Slavic blonde hair and
driving runs, netted with an angled drive, a ferocious volley
and a scrappy third to send Luigi Del Neri's enigmatic side up
to ninth.
Mauro Zarate's second-half goal gave Lazio a 1-0 win at
Chievo to end the home side's hopes of top spot and lift the
Romans level on points with champions Inter, who stay first on
goal difference following the 1-0 defeat by last term's
runners-up.
Argentine striker Zarate, a rare bright spot last season
before Lazio's flirt with relegation, has endured a difficult
start to the campaign but rewarded coach Edy Reja for restoring
him to the starting lineup by finishing off Stefano Mauri's
pass.
"I don't want us to get carried away. It's only the start
even if we are doing well," the down-to-earth Reja told Sky. "I
want to thank the lads because I'm changing tactics a lot and as
long as they react like this we'll be very happy."
Brescia could have surged to the summit but lost 2-1 at Bari
and fellow promoted club Cesena also slipped up.
The modest team from the town near Rimini, in the top flight
for the first time since 1991, had the chance to join Inter on
10 points but lost 4-1 at home to Napoli after taking the lead.
FIRST POINT
Uruguay World Cup forward Edinson Cavani cleverly struck
twice late on for the inconsistent Naples side to leap to the
top of the scoring charts alongside Inter's Samuel Eto'o on five
goals.
Stop-start Sampdoria failed to keep pace with a 0-0 home
draw against Udinese, who picked up their first point of the
season but remained bottom.
Fiorentina also secured their opening win of the campaign
with a 2-0 victory over Parma in Florence to ease the pressure
on new boss Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The Serb's former side Catania drew 1-1 at home with Bologna
to lie two adrift of the top alongside Napoli, Bari and AC
Milan, who beat Genoa 1-0 on Saturday thanks to another Zlatan
Ibrahimovic strike.
Palermo continued their rollercoaster start to the season by
coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Lecce after substitute
Massimo Maccarone netted on the rebound in stoppage time.
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