Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat trick yesterday as AC Milan beat Torino 5-1, lifting the Rossoneri into a tie with Juventus for second place in Serie A.
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Filippo Inzaghi of Milan celebrates scoring a goal during the Serie A match between Milan and Torino at the Stadio Meazza on April 19, 2009 in Milan, Italy. |
Inzaghi scored in the 13th, 37th and 60th minutes at the San Siro - with his first two goals set up by passes from David Beckham.
"Everybody knows he's one of the best goalscorers in the world," Beckham said. "You put the ball in the right place and he scores."
Milan and Juventus both now have 64 points, 10 behind leader Inter Milan.
Meanwhile AS Roma captain Francesco Totti found the net twice to move into the top 10 on Serie A's all-time scoring list.
Totti's goals in a 3-2 win over 10-man Lecce gave him 175 for his career - played entirely with Roma.
He moved past Amedeo Amadei, who led Roma to the 1942 title, on the all-time scorers list. Silvio Piola, who won the World Cup with Italy in 1938, tops the list with 274 goals.
Inzaghi, who has scored nine goals in his last six games, improved his tally to 149.
Totti's goals helped put Roma back in the hunt for fourth place and Serie A's final Champions League spot.
"We're thinking game by game, you do the math at the end," Totti said. "Certainly today's victory and the other results allow us to still believe in fourth place. We're going to fight for it until the end."
Fiorentina, meanwhile, wasted an opportunity to close in on fourth place with a 3-1 loss at Udinese.
Gaetano D'Agostino scored twice for Udinese after Ghana forward Kwadwo Asamoah opened the scoring against Fiorentina.
Genoa, which lost to Lazio 1-0 Saturday, is fourth with 57 points. Fiorentina is next with 55 points and Roma has 52.
Defender Zdenek Grygera scored on a header in injury time to earn 10-man Juventus a 1-1 draw with Inter Milan on Saturday, after 18-year-old striker Mario Balotelli had given Inter the lead.
Also, it was: Atalanta 0, Reggina 1; Cagliari 2, Napoli 0; Catania 2, Sampdoria 0; Palermo 4, Bologna 1; and Siena 0, Chievo Verona 2.
The 35-year-old Inzaghi's first goal came off a cross Beckham and his second, also a header, followed a deft chip from the former England captain.
He completed his hat trick after taking an upfield pass from Ronaldinho on the hour mark.
Ambrosini was tripped by Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni to set up a penalty by Kaka in the 68th, Ivan Franceschini pulled one back for Torino in the 80th and Ambrosini took a pass from Kaka before finding the target in the 89th.
Roma was booed for its 4-2 derby loss to Lazio last week as it took the field, but the boos were quickly replaced by cheers when Totti redirected in a rebound off a free kick from Julio Baptista in the third minute. Matteo Brighi made it 2-0 in the 12th by redirecting a cross from Marco Motta.
Lecce pulled one back with a bouncing shot from Gianni Munari in the 31st and Dimitris Papadopoulos equalized in the 55th with an angled shot. But four minutes later, Roma was awarded a controversial penalty and Totti scored his 175th league goal - all with Roma - from the spot.
Lecce was reduced to 10 men in the 72nd when defender Luca Ariatti picked up a direct red card.
Fiorentina could have moved into the coveted fourth place with a win but the Viola struggled from the start in Udine.
Asamoah beat Sebastien Frey with a long, angled shot in the 10th and D'Agostino scored on a penalty to make it 2-0 in the 47th after Fiorentina defender Alessandro Gamberini was called for a controversial handball.
Fiorentina captain Dario Dainelli scored with a header in the 67th but D'Agostino restored Udinese's two-goal lead with a free kick around a wall in the 69th.
Fiorentina forward Alberto Gilardino bounced a header off the post in the 81st.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily April 20, 2009)
