Milan brush aside Bologna
Reuters - Sunday 12 December 2010, 21:58
MILAN - Rampant AC Milan surged six points
points clear after the Serie A leaders triumphed 3-0 at troubled
Bologna and rivals Lazio conceded at the death in a 2-1 defeat
at Juventus on Sunday.
Juve moved second and level on points with Lazio after Milos
Krasic's effort from a narrow angle went in off goalkeeper
Fernando Muslera deep into stoppage-time.
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The hosts took an early lead when Giorgio Chiellini headed
in a corner but Lazio, who beat champions Inter Milan last time,
soon levelled through Mauro Zarate after another corner.
"This is a big step forward," Chiellini, whose coach Luigi
Del Neri played for veteran Lazio boss Edy Reja way back in 1984
with Gorizia, told Sky. "We know how to suffer and then strike.
To score right at the end was great."
Sixth-placed AS Roma are 10 points behind Milan after a 1-0
win over rock-bottom Bari where Francesco Totti missed a penalty
before his chip set up a slightly offside Juan to score.
Sampdoria, who will find out at a hearing on Monday if
banished striker Antonio Cassano can be sacked, missed the
chance to keep pace with Roma when new Brescia coach Mario
Beretta oversaw a 1-0 success for the strugglers against Samp.
Fellow promoted side Lecce also picked up a 3-2 victory over
Chievo but stayed third-from-bottom while Brazilian striker Nene
netted a hat-trick in Cagliari's 3-0 win over nine-man Catania.
INTER ADRIFT
Milan's easy victory meant they moved 13 points ahead of
faltering rivals Inter in seventh, who are not playing this
weekend because of their involvement in the Club World Cup.
The Rossoneri, who had already qualified for the last 16,
suffered a wobble in Wednesday's home Champions League defeat by
Ajax Amsterdam but Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to the team in
place of Ronaldinho at Bologna and his extra spark was key.
The Swede crossed for midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng to
grab the opener on nine minutes before the Ghanaian produced a
wonderful flick to release Robinho to score after 35 minutes.
Ibrahimovic then chested down and finished off Andrea
Pirlo's pass in the second half, meaning Milan's three main
close-season signings all scored again for the second straight
league game following last weekend's 3-0 win over Brescia.
Marco di Vaio missed a penalty for Bologna late on.
Bologna's players have not been paid for weeks and the club
has been put up for sale with the first team able to walk out
for free in January if wages are still not forthcoming.
A group of local businessmen including the owner of coffee
company Segafredo are interested and a deal could come soon.
On Saturday, Napoli moved third with a 1-0 win at Genoa.
Players threatened to strike for this weekend's games in a
row over contracts but a deal was struck on Thursday.