Milan slip further behind Juventus

CHAMPIONS AC Milan slipped further behind Serie A leaders Juventus when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by mid-table Bologna at the San Siro yesterday.

Milan’s second loss in-a-row, after last week’s reverse at Livorno, leaves them eight adrift of Juventus, who won 2-1 at bottom club Atalanta.

AS Roma rose to fourth spot as they fought back from two goals down to beat Messina 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium. Two goals from Christian Vieri against Palermo last night powered Inter Milan to third.

His first arrived after four minutes when keeper Guardalben spilled an effort from Juan Sebastian Veron. The Italian international made sure of the points, and Inter’s 21 game unbeaten run, with his second on the hour mark after good work by Stankovic

Rivals AC were desperate to keep pace with Juve but struggled to break down a Bologna team unbeaten in five matches. The home side created all the early pressure, with Andriy Shevchenko heading a Clarence Seedorf cross narrowly wide and midfielder Dhorasoo having a goal overruled for handball.

Bologna’s tactics were simple - defend deep and hit Milan on the break - and their approach soon paid off. A swift counter-attack in the 27th minute ended with Bellucci backheeling the ball into the path of fellow striker Locatelli who lashed it past Milan keeper Dida. Milan quickly rediscovered their rhythm but 10 minutes before the break they were forced to send on Jon Dahl Tomasson in place of Shev-chenko, who left the field limping after colliding with Gamberini.

Milan continued to create chances after the break. Bologna keeper Pagliuca blocked a Crespo effort, a Cafu shot ran narrowly wide and Zagorakis cleared Ambrosini’s header off the line but the visitors held out.

Juventus, meanwhile, gained revenge over Atalanta, who had knocked them out of the Italian Cup early this month. Ruben Olivera proved an excellent stand-in for injured midfielder Pavel Nedved when he ran onto a through-ball to lob keeper Massimo Taibi after 23 minutes. The points were sealed 10 minutes from time when a shove by Atalanta defender Motta on Camoranesi gave Juve a penalty that Del Piero converted.

Roma produced a Jekyll and Hyde performance to overcome plucky Messina. They looked a shadow of themselves in the first half as Messina went 2-0 ahead with goals by striker Zampagna and defender Parisi.

Francesco Totti pulled a goal back in the 56th minute after a knockdown by Montella and four minutes later Totti hoisted a long ball forward for Cassano to stab home. Roma completed their great escape with eight minutes left when Brazilian midfielder Mancini fired a low shot into the net.

England captain David Beckham was on target as Real Madrid maintained their perfect league record in 2005 with a 2-1 win at Numancia.

Second-half goals from Beckham and Michel Salgado got the points for Real before Miguel Lopez got a late consolation for the hosts.

Real remain seven points behind arch rivals Barcelona who won 4-0 at Sevilla on Saturday with goals from Eto’o, Ronaldinho, Giuly and a Baptista own goal.

Third-placed Valencia produced a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to draw with Athletic Bilbao last night. Goals from Mista and Marco Di Vaio in the final 11 minutes for the champions cancelled out strikes from goalkeeper Andoni Iraola (pen) and Santi Ezquerro.

In-form Villarreal notched their fourth successive victory, an emphatic 4-0 win at Real Sociedad.

Diego Forlan continued his scoring streak, and ignited Villarreal’s goal spree, on the hour mark. Forlan then became the provider for Riquleme to add Villarreal’s second on 77 minutes.

Five minutes later, Forlan found the net for the ninth time in seven games after playing a one-two with Riquelme. Romero finished off the miserable day for the Basque hosts by scoring two minutes into injury-time.

Bayern Munich edged a point clear at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday as they had to settle for a 0-0 draw away to Hertha Berlin in a tense match at the Olympic Stadium.

A draw gave Bayern 38 points from 19 matches and put a little daylight between them and Schalke, who have 37 points after losing 2-0 at FC Kaiserslautern on Saturday. Stuttgart are third on 34 points following their 4-2 defeat at home to FC Nuremberg.

PSV Eindhoven came back from a goal down to win 4-1 in the Dutch first division at RKC Waalwijk with a hat-trick from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. PSV are back on top with 48 points, two ahead of AZ Alkmaar following their 1-0 win on Saturday at bottom side Den Bosch.

Fenerbahce last night announced that they had signed Nicolas Anelka from Manchester City in a £7 million deal. The Turkish giants confirmed that they had successfully agreed terms with both Anelka and City for the French striker.