Kaka
MILAN, Italy – Kaka and Alberto Gilardino both scored two goals Sunday to help AC Milan beat Lazio 5-1 and get its first victory in six rounds of the Italian first division.
Kaka converted a penalty kick in the 33rd and doubled his tally in the 52nd after holding off two defenders and shooting through the legs of Lazio goalkeeper Nestor Fernando Muslera.
The Brazil star then created an opening in the 70th for Gilardino, who beat Muslera for his first goal of the season.
Gilardino, whose recent form has been heavily criticized, completed the rout in the 79th with a volley from close range.
”We showed tonight that Milan has a lot of desire,” Gilardino said. ”We were convinced that we could play a great game.”
Elsewhere, Adrian Mutu converted an 88th-minute penalty to help Fiorentina draw with Juventus 1-1 and Francesco Totti hit two goals and set up another as AS Roma routed 10-man Parma 3-0.
Also Sunday, it was Catania 1, Livorno 0; Genoa 2, Cagliari 0; Palermo 1, Reggina 1; Siena 3, Empoli 0; and, Torino 1, Sampdoria 0.
Inter Milan, which beat Napoli 2-1 on Saturday, leads the Serie A standings with 17 points, followed by Juventus and Roma with 14, Fiorentina with 13 and Genoa with 12. Milan is tied with Napoli and Atalanta with 10 points.
Milan travelled to Rome off four draws and one defeat in the Serie A and a last-minute defeat at Glasgow, Scotland to Celtic in the UEFA Champions League midweek. However, after Kaka’s penalty, it never looked like going down to a lacklustre Lazio.
”It was an excellent display of taking the lead in the first half, holding onto the ball, and playing from deep,” Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. ”(Kaka and Gilardino) were decisive in this. It was a delicate moment and the success was important.”
Massimo Ambrosini put Milan ahead 1-0 in the 16th with a speculative long-range shot, before Stefano Mauri equalized for Lazio in the 23rd off Lorenzo De Silvestri’s assist.
Ambrosini appeared to be trying to cross the ball into the box, but his effort sailed over the head of Muslera, who was off his line, and dropped into the right side of the goal.
Gilardino, who earned Kaka’s penalty after being clipped by Muslera, had also got a penalty in the 13th for an almost identical trip but the linesman intervened for offside and the referee changed his decision.
Gilardino, who until recently was jeered by a section of his own fans, collected Kaka’s pass to score in the 70th. Gilardino was mobbed by his teammates in celebration, and he smashed in his second from inside the area.
”Everyone thinks about goals only,” Gilardino said. ”But this evening I showed other (qualities) too.”
Lazio was a shadow of the side that rallied to draw with Spain’s Real Madrid 2-2 in the Champions League midweek and spent most of the game defending.
The Rome team has seven points.
In Florence, Mutu equalized after Vincenzo Iaquinta scored a controversial goal in the 23rd minute to put the Bianconeri ahead 1-0.
TV replays suggested Iaquinta’s edge-of-the-area goal shouldn’t have been awarded.
Iaquinta profited from a poor defensive header by Fiorentina’s Alessandro Gamberini but David Trezeguet seemed to obscure Viola goalkeeper Sebastian Frey’s sight of the shot, while standing in an offside position.
When asked if he thought Trezeguet was offside, Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri responded, ”He could have been. But if we had capitalized (on our lead) I would have been happier. Fiorentina equalized with a penalty. It’s displeasing because we had the game in our hands.”
Fiorentina and Inter are the only remaining unbeaten teams in the league.
In Parma, Totti opened the scoring in the second after Mirko Vucinic stopped the ball on the end line and cut it back into the path of his captain.
Totti then fed Amantino Mancini with a perfectly weighted pass to make it 2-0 in the 21st and completed the rout from close range in the 82nd.
Totti reached 157 Serie A goals for Roma, the only club he has played for as a professional.
”It’s very gratifying but I have to thank the team that supports me,” Totti said.
Bernardo Corradi was sent off for Parma in the 26th for his second booking.
It was Roma’s first win in four rounds of the Serie A. The Giallorossi were thumped 4-1 by Inter in the league last weekend and beaten 1-0 at Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday.
”We want to win the scudetto but we know that there are competitive teams,” Totti said. ”It will be difficult for everybody.”
Source: www.tsn.ca
