Italy round-up: Juventus prosper as top two draw

Juventus FC's hopes of winning their first Serie A title since 1998 were boosted today when they beat Piacenza FC 1-0 and rivals Internazionale FC and AS Roma were both held to draws.

Nedved strike
Czech international Pavel Nedved's 85th-minute goal saw Juventus edge a hard-fought match at Piacenza's Leonardo Garilli stadium and moved his side above Roma into second place. With two games remaining, Inter lead the way with 66 points but Juventus are now just a single point behind. Roma are a further point adrift in third.

Inter held
Inter were denied three points in dramatic fashion, as AC Chievo Verona's Federico Cossato scored an injury-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw at the Marc' Antonio Bentegodi stadium. Ronaldo looked like being the hero for the second week running as Inter came from behind to lead 2-1 at with just seconds remaining but Cossato then popped up to ruin the visitors' day.

Cossato equaliser
Chievo took the lead in the first half, when Massimo Marazzina headed in three minutes before the break after a Bernard Corradi cross from the right. Stéphane Dalmat levelled two minutes after the interval following a Ronaldo pass, and the Brazilian striker, who scored two crucial goals against Brescia Calcio last week, once again produced the goods with a tap-in just after the hour. Nicola Ventola and Clarence Seedorf both missed good opportunities for Inter before Cossato made them pay in the second minute of injury time.

Roma hopes dented
Roma's hopes of retaining their Serie A title suffered a severe blow after a goalless draw with Milan AC at the San Siro. The result did Milan no favours either, as they slipped a place to sixth in the table after being leapfrogged by S.S. Lazio following their stunning 5-4 victory over Hellas-Verona FC.

Nine-goal thriller
Lazio, who were unbeaten in five matches coming into today's encounter, edged out their visitors in a nine-goal thriller at the Olimpico stadium. The hosts seemed to be cruising throughout the match, and with just 14 minutes to go they were 5-1 ahead. But a stirring Verona fightback following Jaap Stam's dismissal ensured a nervous finale for the home fans.

Verona comeback
Mario Frick opened the scoring for Verona in the sixth minute but Lazio equalised after 28 minutes through Stam's close-range finish. Claudio López put Lazio ahead from the penalty spot after 31 minutes when Carlo Teodorani was adjudged to have handled, and Dejan Stankovic's powerful volley gave the hosts a 3-1 advantage at the interval. Lazio scored their fourth goal eight minutes after the break, when Stankovic scored his second of the match from outside the area.

Stam dismissed
Stam was sent off in the 74th minute after picking up his second yellow card, but Hernán Crespo added a fifth for the home side a minute later. The visitors did not give up, and Leonardo Colucci and Michele Cossato reduced the deficit to just two goals inside the final ten minutes. Adaílton then scored a superb free-kick to make the score 5-4, but time ran out for the visitors to salvage something from the match.

Bologna beaten
Bologna FC's hopes of securing a place in the UEFA Champions League next term were dented as they lost 1-0 against AC Perugia. Zé Maria scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot in the 50th minute to leave Bologna in seventh place, level on 49 points with Milan. US Lecce were relegated despite a battling 1-1 draw at Torino Calcio, as their three-year stay in Serie A came to an end. Lecce have two matches remaining and are nine points adrift of safety after José Franco cancelled out a Diego de Ascentis own goal 12 minutes from time.

Baggio double
Roberto Baggio scored twice on his return from injury as Brescia beat relegated AC Fiorentina 3-0. Luca Toni put Brescia ahead after 35 minutes, before Baggio made sure of the three points with goals in the 68th and 88th minutes. Parma AC left it late to earn a share of the spoils in their match against Atalanta BC, as Johan Micoud scored a 90th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw at the Ennio Tardini stadium. Gianni Comandini had given Atalanta the lead six minutes before the break.

Udinese lifeline
In the day's other match, David Pizarro's penalty after 30 minutes was enough to keep Udinese Calcio's hopes of avoiding relegation alive. Their 1-0 home victory over AC Venezia sees them remain fourth from bottom of the table, level on points with Brescia who who are 14th. With two matches to go, Udinese, Brescia, Parma and Piacenza are all still fighting to avoid the drop.