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Juve extend lead as AC Milan stall at Palermo
Juventus stretched their lead at the top of Serie A to four points after they won 4-2 at home to Livorno and second-placed AC Milan were held to a goalless draw at Palermo. Alessandro Del Piero put Juve ahead with a glancing header from Ruben Olivera's cross and Mauro Camoranesi made it 2-0 with a tap-in after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's header had come back off the bar.
The hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock in an evenly-balanced first half when Stefano Morrone's rising drive was tipped over the bar by Nelson Dida. The title-holders stepped up a gear in the second half and came within a whisker of scoring in the 65th minute, but Palermo keeper Matteo Guardalben's produced a superb fingertip save to keep out Kaka's right-footed angled drive. Substitute Clarence Seedorf had a great opportunity to steal victory nine minutes from time, but he failed to keep his curling drive down and his wild effort sailed over the bar. Juve coach Fabio Capello admitted his team had a tough time of it against the Tuscans at the Delle Alpi stadium. "Livorno are a team who never give up and my players had to battle hard for the three points," he said. "We gifted them two goals, but once we started to play more direct football rather than pass it around we dominated the match." Juventus have 43 points from their 18 matches played, while AC Milan have 39, five more than Udinese, who won 2-0 at home to Cagliari. Antonio Di Natale opened the scoring for Udinese before Francesco Pisano put through his own net. Inter Milan are four points behind Udinese in fourth spot after rallying from two goals down to beat Sampdoria 3-2 at the San Siro. The home side scored three goals in the final seven minutes - which included five minutes for stoppages - for their third win in a row to preserve their unbeaten record. Obafemi Martins scored with a curling shot struck with the outside of his boot before setting up Christian Vieri to smash home a volley that restored equality. Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba, a 75th minute substitute, snatched the winner with a low drive from the edge of the penalty area. Roma bounced back after their derby defeat to Lazio on Thursday with a narrow 2-1 home win over bottom club Atalanta, which saw them climb to sixth place behind Sampdoria. Vincenzo Montella scored both goals for Luigi Del Neri's side to take his league tally to 14, joint top with Inter Milan's Adriano. Michele Marcolin grabbed a late consolation goal for the visitors from Bergamo, who look set for a swift return to Serie B. Lazio won their second match in four days, edging a five-goal thriller away to Fiorentina. Fabrizio Miccoli scored twice for the home side, but Paolo Di Canio, Goran Pandev and Ousmane Dabo clinched a 3-2 victory for the visitors and three valuable points. Financially-stricken Parma boosted their hopes of surviving the drop with a crucial 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Siena where Alberto Gilardino's goal settled a nervy contest. Bologna pulled themselves out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 home win over Chievo, while Brescia remain in danger after going down 2-0 at Messina. In Puglia, Lecce were held 1-1 at home to Calabrian side Reggina.
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![Juventus' German Mauro Camoranesi, right, celebrates scoring against Livorno with teammate Zlatlan Ibrahimovic of Sweden during the Serie A match between Juventus and Livorno Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005. [AP]](xin_05010210100266217028.jpg)
