Baggio Inspires Inter to Victory
December 22, 1998 - 0:0
MILAN Inter Milan's bid to become Italian champions was firmly back on track on Sunday night after they rallied to crush title rivals AS Roma 4-1 at San Siro. Inter were one of several clubs to make ground on league leaders Fiorentina, who were held to a 2-2 draw by Perugia after Japan's Hidetoshi Nakata converted a penalty in the fifth minute of injury-time.
Ronaldo is gradually rediscovering his form after six months of tendon trouble but the hero of Inter's victory was Roberto Baggio, who came on as a substitute and turned the match around. Trailing 1-0 at the break, Inter scored four times after the Italian star's arrival with Baggio scoring one, setting up two more and prompting the sending-off of Roma defender Fabio Petruzzi. Fiorentina stayed top, but their lead has been shaved to three points and their pursuers are becoming more numerous.
Fiorentina were 1-0 down after just 20 seconds before Anselmo Robbiati leveled with a free-kick and Argentinian skipper Gabriel Batistuta looked to have bagged a 73rd minute winner. Batistuta, the top scorer in the Serie A, brought his season tally to 14 goals in 14 matches. But there was drama when Perugia were awarded a penalty for a hand ball by Spaniard Guillermo Amor and Nakata tucked the ball home to stun the championship favorites.
Missing out on victory in the 95th minute leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, said Fiorentina Coach Giovanni Trapattoni. But I'm satisfied with the way the team played. We suffered in the first half but controlled the second. We reacted well to going a goal down and set out to win. And if Batistuta had scored a third goal when he had the chance, we might have done.
We need to concentrate more in the closing minutes. A delighted Nakata said: I just couldn't miss the penalty. And I wasn't at all nervous about taking it. Parma move up to second place after coming out 5-3 winners over Empoli. Coach Alberto Malesani said: We're putting Fiorentina under pressure. Even though we conceded three goals, I liked the way we played today.
AC Milan dropped to third, one point behind Parma, after suffering a similar fate to Fiorentina being suckered by Ariel Ortega's late equalizer for Sampdoria in a 2-2 draw. Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni was bitterly disappointed. We should have finished it earlier, but it's the same old story: In front of goal, we just don't have the conviction it takes to score, he lamented.
We create a lot of chances but only convert a few of them. Otherwise, we'd be much further up the table. Sampdoria were watched by would-be coach David Platt, the Englishman whose appointment is being fought by Italy's football authorities. Platt said: Above all, I'd asked the team to a real show of character, because we haven't had much time to work on tactics, and that's what I got.
The result is important for our morale and is something we can build on. We might not have won, but if we can keep this attitude going, we can do well. Inter are fourth, one point behind Milan but one in front of Roma and Lazio. Lazio beat Udinese 3-1 in a match which, like Roma's, started with a one-minute silence for the victims of the Rome apartment building collapse, while the team wore black armbands.
A 1-1 stalemate at the break, Chilean Marcelo Salas won it for Lazio with two goals in the second half. Filippo superpippo Inzaghi earned Juventus' first league win since november 1 with a hat-trick as they beat Salernitana 3-0. But coach Marcello Lippi's praise was for the Frenchman who is due to receive the Golden Ball Award on Monday Zinedine Zidane. He really deserves it, said Lippi, not just for his footballing abilities but for his human qualities as well.
heart-felt congratulations to him, and I wish him many years of future success. With trapattoni's men drawing at Perugia, Juventus won back two of the three points they lost in last weekend's defeat to Fiorentina. However, they are still down in eighth place. We'd said that we needed to win and hope that one or two of our rivals were held up, and that's practically what's happened, said Lippi. Now we have to go forward and hope the gap narrows over the next two or three months.
Lippi is leaving at the end of the season and Juventus' honorary president Umberto Agnelli hinted that former Parma Coach Carlo Ancelotti would be his successor despite his unpopularity with Juventus fans. Elsewhere, Bologna beat Cagliari 1-0, Piacenza were 3-2 winners over Bari and Vicenza drew 0-0 with Venezia. (AFP)
Ronaldo is gradually rediscovering his form after six months of tendon trouble but the hero of Inter's victory was Roberto Baggio, who came on as a substitute and turned the match around. Trailing 1-0 at the break, Inter scored four times after the Italian star's arrival with Baggio scoring one, setting up two more and prompting the sending-off of Roma defender Fabio Petruzzi. Fiorentina stayed top, but their lead has been shaved to three points and their pursuers are becoming more numerous.
Fiorentina were 1-0 down after just 20 seconds before Anselmo Robbiati leveled with a free-kick and Argentinian skipper Gabriel Batistuta looked to have bagged a 73rd minute winner. Batistuta, the top scorer in the Serie A, brought his season tally to 14 goals in 14 matches. But there was drama when Perugia were awarded a penalty for a hand ball by Spaniard Guillermo Amor and Nakata tucked the ball home to stun the championship favorites.
Missing out on victory in the 95th minute leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, said Fiorentina Coach Giovanni Trapattoni. But I'm satisfied with the way the team played. We suffered in the first half but controlled the second. We reacted well to going a goal down and set out to win. And if Batistuta had scored a third goal when he had the chance, we might have done.
We need to concentrate more in the closing minutes. A delighted Nakata said: I just couldn't miss the penalty. And I wasn't at all nervous about taking it. Parma move up to second place after coming out 5-3 winners over Empoli. Coach Alberto Malesani said: We're putting Fiorentina under pressure. Even though we conceded three goals, I liked the way we played today.
AC Milan dropped to third, one point behind Parma, after suffering a similar fate to Fiorentina being suckered by Ariel Ortega's late equalizer for Sampdoria in a 2-2 draw. Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni was bitterly disappointed. We should have finished it earlier, but it's the same old story: In front of goal, we just don't have the conviction it takes to score, he lamented.
We create a lot of chances but only convert a few of them. Otherwise, we'd be much further up the table. Sampdoria were watched by would-be coach David Platt, the Englishman whose appointment is being fought by Italy's football authorities. Platt said: Above all, I'd asked the team to a real show of character, because we haven't had much time to work on tactics, and that's what I got.
The result is important for our morale and is something we can build on. We might not have won, but if we can keep this attitude going, we can do well. Inter are fourth, one point behind Milan but one in front of Roma and Lazio. Lazio beat Udinese 3-1 in a match which, like Roma's, started with a one-minute silence for the victims of the Rome apartment building collapse, while the team wore black armbands.
A 1-1 stalemate at the break, Chilean Marcelo Salas won it for Lazio with two goals in the second half. Filippo superpippo Inzaghi earned Juventus' first league win since november 1 with a hat-trick as they beat Salernitana 3-0. But coach Marcello Lippi's praise was for the Frenchman who is due to receive the Golden Ball Award on Monday Zinedine Zidane. He really deserves it, said Lippi, not just for his footballing abilities but for his human qualities as well.
heart-felt congratulations to him, and I wish him many years of future success. With trapattoni's men drawing at Perugia, Juventus won back two of the three points they lost in last weekend's defeat to Fiorentina. However, they are still down in eighth place. We'd said that we needed to win and hope that one or two of our rivals were held up, and that's practically what's happened, said Lippi. Now we have to go forward and hope the gap narrows over the next two or three months.
Lippi is leaving at the end of the season and Juventus' honorary president Umberto Agnelli hinted that former Parma Coach Carlo Ancelotti would be his successor despite his unpopularity with Juventus fans. Elsewhere, Bologna beat Cagliari 1-0, Piacenza were 3-2 winners over Bari and Vicenza drew 0-0 with Venezia. (AFP)