Milan back on top after beating Roma 2-0

The two-horse race for the Serie A title continued last night when Milan beat Roma 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium to move top of the standings along with the other challengers Juventus, both on the 66-point mark.

Juve were not in action yesterday as they had played a day before, winning against Reggina 1-0.

Charged by the vociferous home crowd, Roma started on attack and threatened to open the score first.

But Milan, drawn against city rivals Inter in the Champions League quarter-finals next month, took their time to settle down and after weathering the early pressure they soon imposed their superiority, going on to hit two quick goals midway through the second half to make sure of the points.

Hernan Crespo headed home after 64 minutes and seven minutes later the hosts had substitute Christian Panucci sent off after stopping a Crespo try with his hand in the Roma box. From the penalty Andrea Pirlo made it 2-0.

Roma's woes were compounded on the stroke of time when captain Francesco Totti was dismissed for violent play.

Inter hung on for a 3-2 victory over Fiorentina at the San Siro, holding on to third place in Serie A.

Inter led 3-1 but an own goal from Ivan Cordoba in the 87th minute made Roberto Mancini's side sweat.

Udinese moved up to fourth place after two goals from David Di Michele gave them a 2-1 victory over Lecce, the winner coming in the 89th minute.

Sampdoria slipped out of the top four after a surprise 2-1 home loss to Atalanta while the other Champions League qualification hopefuls Palermo drew 3-3 at Parma, with the home side fighting back for a point despite being down to nine men.

Inter went ahead in the 27th minute with a fine volley from Esteban Cambiasso. But they were pegged back five minutes before the break when Giampaolo Pazzini netted with an acrobatic effort.

Another Argentine, Juan Sebastian Veron fired Inter back in front eight minutes after the restart with a thundering shot from 20 metres and the game looked over when Colombian Ivan Cordoba scored in the 65th minute.

Inter were given a late scare three minutes from the end, Cordoba turning a low cross from Hidetoshi Nakata into his own net.

Lecce started well at Udine, going ahead in the 31st minute with Alex Pinardi finishing off a swift break but nine minutes later Zdenek Zeman's side were reduced to 10 men when defender Souleymane Diamoutene was dismissed.

Within two minutes Udinese were on level terms through a left-foot volley from Di Michele and it was the in-form striker who grabbed the winner at the end for his 11th league goal of the season.

Sampdoria suffered their second successive defeat but the loss to bottom club Atalanta will hurt much more than last week's loss to Milan.

Atalanta, who now have 13 points from their last seven games, took an early lead through exciting Nigerian forward Stephen Makinwa.

Former Atalanta midfielder Cristiano Doni brought Samp back into the game with a superb free-kick but a header from the experienced defender Cesare Natali gave the Bergamo side a win that keeps their survival hopes alive.

Parma had defender Paolo Cannavaro sent off in the 33rd minute and found themselves 3-1 down to Palermo early in the second half after Franco Brienza's second strike.

A 50th minute penalty converted by Alberto Gilardino brought the game back to life but when Matteo Contini's dismissal near the end left Parma with nine men the three point's looked Palermo's.

But two minutes into injury time Gilardino scrambled the ball home to give relegation-threatened Parma, UEFA Cup quarter-finalists, a potentially precious point.

Italy squad

Italy squad for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Scotland:

Keepers: Buffon (Juventus), De Sanctis (Udinese), Roma (Monaco).

Defenders: Barzagli (Palermo), Bonera (Parma), Cannavaro (Juventus), Chiellini (Fiorentina), Grosso (Palermo), Materazzi (Inter), Nesta (Milan), Zaccardo (Palermo).

Midfielders: Barone (Palermo), Blasi, Camoranesi (both Juve), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso, Pirlo (both Milan).

Forwards: Cassano, Montella, Totti (all Roma), Esposito (Cagliari), Gilardino (Parma), Toni (Palermo).

Serie A

Chievo 3
Brescia 1
HT: 0-1. Att: 8,863

Inter 3
Fiorentina 2
HT: 1-1. Att: 60,000

Livorno 3
Cagliari 3
HT: 2-2. Att: 17,000

Messina 0
Bologna 0
Att: 33,000

Parma 3
Palermo 3
HT: 1-1. Att: 15,000

Roma 0
Milan 2

Sampdoria 1
Atalanta 2
HT: 1-1. Att: 23,000

Udinese 2
Lecce 1
HT: 1-1. Att: 15,000

Played on Saturday
Siena 1
Lazio 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 11,000

Juventus 1
Reggina 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 21,198

Leading Scorers

19 goals Montella (Roma)
16 goals Gilardino (Parma)
15 goals Adriano (Inter)
14 goals Esposito (Cagliari); Shevchenko (Milan)
13 goals Toni (Palermo)

Next Fixtures

Saturday, April 2 - 6 p.m. Lazio vs Livorno; Fiorentina vs Juve. 8.30 p.m. Milan vs Brescia; Bologna vs Inter.

Sunday, April 3 - 3 p.m. Atalanta vs Chievo; Cagliari vs Sampdoria; Lecce vs Siena; Palermo vs Messina; Reggina vs Parma; Udinese vs Roma.

Serie C1(A)

Acireale-Novara 2-1
Como-Torres 0-1
Cremonese-Prato 2-1
Frosinone-Sangiovannese 2-1
Lucchese-Spezia 0-1
Lumezzane-Grosseto 0-0
Pavia-Pisa 1-1
Pistoiese-Vittoria 2-0

Standings: Cremonese 55; Pavia 54; Grosseto 51; Mantova 50; Frosinone 49; Pistoiese 44; Spezia 41; Pisa, Pro Patria 38; Lumezzane, Sangiovannese 35; Torres 33; F. Andria, Novara 28; Lucchese 27; Acireale 26; Vittoria 24; Como 18; Prato 14.

Serie C1(B)

Avellino-Sambenedettese 2-1
Cittadella-Padova 1-1
Fermana-Sora 0-2
Foggia-Spal 1-3
Giulianova-Rimini 0-0
Lanciano-Chieti 0-0
Martina-Reggiana 2-2
Napoli-Teramo 1-0
Vis Pesaro-Benevento 0-1

Standings: Rimini 55; Avellino 53; Napoli 48; Reggiana 42; Padova 40; Sambenedettese 39; Benevento, Lanciano 38; Foggia, Spal 35; Teramo 33; Fermana 32; Cittadella, Martina 30; Giulianova 26; Chieti, Sora 24; Vis Pesaro 17.

Note: There were no Serie B matches yesterday.