Juve suffers 'Lampard' moment
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Juventus forward Fabio Quagliarella jubilates after scoring against Catania on Sunday during their Serie A soccer match at Massimino Stadium in Catania. Marcello Paternostro / Agence France-Presse |
Fabio Quagliarella suffered a Frank Lampard moment on Sunday when he had a perfectly good goal ruled out in Juventus' 3-1 win at Catania when officials failed to spot his shot had crossed the line.
Quagliarella unleashed a 43rd-minute drive from a Milos Krasic pass that crashed against the crossbar before bouncing behind the line and back into play in a replay of Lampard's effort in England's World Cup defeat to Germany.
Juventus had already opened the scoring in the 35th minute when Vincenzo Iaquinta set up Simone Pepe to volley home.
Catania struck back immediately when Fabio Grosso misjudged a cross and Japanese star Takayuki Morimoto tucked the ball away from close range.
Quagliarella did get on the scoresheet just before the break after being freed by Iaquinta and he made it 3-1 on the hour mark as Juventus moved on to 27 points, six behind leader AC Milan.
"I don't look at the table, but I am happy because Catania hadn't lost at home for a year," said Juventus coach Luigi Delneri.
"We deserved this win. I saw my team play with lots of character."
On Saturday, Milan went three points clear of second-placed Lazio cruising to a 3-0 win over lowly Brescia at the San Siro with all of its goals coming in the first half.
Kevin Prince Boateng scored his first Milan goal on four minutes, and, in a two-minute spell either side of the half-hour mark, Robinho grabbed a fifth and Zlatan Ibrahimovic an eighth goal of the season.
Lazio's 3-1 win over Inter Milan on Friday had seen them join Milan at the summit of Serie A, but Massimiliano Allegri's side betrayed little anxiety against a Brescia side who had gone 10 games without a win.
"I'm pleased we started with the right attitude and scored early but then we relaxed for a while and had to thank (Christian) Abbiati for a terrific save. At 3-0 we closed the game out and I was able to rest some legs," said Allegri.
"When Inter return from the World Club Cup, I'm sure they will be back to their best so we will have to keep up our form. The season's very long and there are still many teams left in contention for the title."
At Chievo, Fabio Simplicio struck a brace for Roma in the 26th and 44th minutes in a match that only went ahead after a late pitch inspection at the icy Marc'Antonio Bentegodi stadium.
But Roma was punished in the second period for sitting on its lead.
Goalkeeper Julio Sergio allowed a long-range effort from Davide Moscardelli to slip through his grasp just after the hour.
And with seven minutes remaining Pablo Granoche slotted home the equalizer for Chievo before Roma's misery was compounded when skipper Daniele De Rossi was sent off for a reckless lunge on Moscardelli.
"The pitch made it like a beach soccer match," complained Roma coach Claudio Ranieri whose team is in eighth place.
"After 2-0 we couldn't string two passes together on it. I'm just happy nobody was injured."
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