Inzaghi helps Juve stay on top

Inzaghi helps Juve stay on top
ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON, FEBRUARY 21: Filippo Inzaghi did it all as Juventus kept its cushion atop Italy's Serie A. But defending champion AC Milan is making a move.

Inzaghi scored a second-half hat-trick and set up Alessandro del Piero's winning penalty in the 34th as the Turin side won 4-0 on Sunday over Venezia.

Juve is unbeaten in 17 matches and leads in Italy with 47 points. AC Milan moved into second with 44 points with a 2-1 home victory over Lazio as Croatian mid-fielder Zvonimir Boban coverted two first-half penalties. Lazio held on to third with 43.

Elsewhere, French defender Laurent Blanc scored on two headers off corners to give Inter Milan a 3-1 victory over Piacenza. Inter stayed in fifth with 40 points, two points behind AS Roma.

After taking a two-goal lead, AC Parma lost 4-3 to lowly Verona. Parma's star mid-fielder Dino Baggio was ejected early in the second half for a hard foul, while Verona's Domenico Morfeo notched a goal and assist off of two free-kicks.

In other games, Lecce drew with Bologna1-1, Torino drew with Cagliari 1-1 and Udinese beat Bari 5-1.

On Saturday, Vincenzo Montella scored three and newly signed Japanese star Hidetoshi Nakata added another in AS Roma's 4-0 rout of Fiorentina. Reggina and Perugia played out a 1-1 draw.

In England, even without David Beckham -- cut from Sunday's 16-man team after missing practice on Friday -- Manchester United defeated Leeds 1-0 on Andy Cole's 52nd-minute goal to push its league lead to six points.

In the FA Cup quarter-finals, Newcastle won 3-2 at first-division Tranmere, Chelsea beat second-division Gillingham 5-0, and Aston Villa won 2-1 at Everton. Bolton clinched the fourth spot on Saturday.

Sunday's semi-final draw pitted Bolton against Villa and Newcastle against Chelsea. The games will be played on April 2 and April 9 at Wembley Stadium.

Man United's win on Cole's 100th goal for the club improved the defending champions to 56 points followed by Leeds (50), Liverpool (47), Arsenal (44) and Chelsea (43).

In Sunday's FA Cupquarter-finals, Gary Speed, Didi Erdomi and Duncan Ferguson scored for Newcastle and Gary Jones and Wayne Allison scored for Tranmere. The magpies are trying to reach their third straight final after losing the previous two.

Chelsea, the '97 FA Cup champions, got goals from Tore Andre Flo, John Terry, George Weah, Jody Morris and Gianfranco Zola on a penalty in its 5-0 win against Gillingham.

Villa won 2-1 at Everton as Benito Carbone scored the winner in first-half injury time. Steve Stone opened for Villa in the 16th and American Joe-Max Moore equalised in the 20th. It was the red-hot Moore's fourth goal in four games and his fifth in six since joining the team two months ago.

It was a great weekend for Spanish league leaders Deportivo la Coruna, which beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday 2-0. And a good one, too, for Barcelona, which hammered Valladolid 4-0 on Sunday in the Catalan capital on two second-half goals by Rivaldo. Dutchmen Ronald de Boer and Patrick Kluivert got the other two.

Barca movedinto second place, five behind Deportivo with 46. None of the three teams closest to Deportivo and Barca managed victories. No 3 Zaragoza fell 2-1 at Real Sociedad, No 4 Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Valencia and No 5 Alaves drew 2-2 at Sevilla.

In other games, Mallorca beat Celta 1-0, Real Sociedad beat Zaragoza 2-1, Racing de Santander beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1, Atletico de Madrid drew Espanyol 1-1, Oviedo drew Betis 1-1 and Malaga beat Numancia 3-1.

In two Bundesliga games, VFL Wolfsburg defeated Arminia Bielefeld 2-0 and SSV ULM drew 1-1 with Hansa Rostock.

In Portugal, Benfica moved to within a point of co-leaders FC Porta and Sporting, beating Farense 6-2 on a hat-trick from Nuno Maniche. Nuno Gomes scored two and Karel Poborsky had the other.