Roma's lead cut despite late goal

AS Roma's lead at the top of Serie A was cut to four points when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Perugia while second-placed Juventus beat Inter Milan 3-1.

Roma needed a controversial goal in injury time to salvage a point.

Vincenzo Montella appeared to get the final touch on their desperate equaliser after a goalmouth scramble that involved Gabriel Batistuta and Damiano Tomassi, plus about six Perugia defenders.

But the score was later credited as an own-goal off Giovanni Tedesco.

The visitors were furious at referee Cosimo Bolognino for allowing it to stand, claiming there had been a foul during the melee on the line.

They surrounded the official and a linesman for several minutes in protest before the game was restarted.

Roma had trailed for much of the match - first to a brilliant 44th-minute strike from midfielder Davide Baiocco and then after goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli made a terrible blunder to give Perugia a 2-1 lead.

Baiocco swept a right-foot shot into the top left-hand corner of Antonioli's goal from 30m to silence 60,000 fans in a rain-soaked Olympic Stadium.

Roma captain Francesco Totti equalised in the 53rd minute with a low right-foot shot from the edge of the box before Antonioli gifted Perugia what looked likely to be a 77th-minute winner.

The veteran keeper dropped the ball as he tried to pick it up off the greasy surface and striker Luca Saudati stole in to stroke it into the empty net.

Roma's untidy equaliser ensured they extended their unbeaten home run in Serie A to 13 months.

They have not lost in the capital in the league since March 19 last year.

Juventus took full advantage of Roma's disappointment as they swept aside Inter with three second-half goals from Alessio Tacchinardi, Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero.

Argentine striker Hernan Crespo scored both goals to give Lazio a 2-0 victory at Reggina.

He joins Andriy Shevchenko at the top of the Serie A scoring table with 18.

Crespo's goals were set up by his compatriot Diego Simeone in the 16th and 70th minutes.

Lazio are third, six points behind Juventus and 10 behind Roma.

* A superbly-taken hat-trick by Guti and a marvellous swerving free kick from Roberto Carlos gave Real Madrid a comfortable 4-0 win over Villarreal in the Spanish first division.

Real maintained their eight-point lead as second-placed Deportivo Coruna squeezed out a 2-1 win over relegation strugglers Osasuna.

Third-placed Valencia lost ground after falling victim to in-form Alaves who grabbed a rare 2-1 victory at the Mestalla Stadium.

A last-minute Rivaldo free kick enabled Barcelona to salvage a 4-4 draw in a pulsating home clash with Real Zaragoza.

It was the second week running that Barcelona had been involved in an eight-goal thriller.

They were pushed out of the Champions League qualification place by Real Mallorca, who jumped to fourth in the competition by grabbing a 2-1 win at home to Las Palmas.

With eight games remaining, Real Madrid continue to lead the standings with 65 points.

Deportivo are eight points back after their victory over Osasuna.

Valencia and Mallorca are on 52 points, followed by Barcelona on 51.

At the other end of the table, Racing Santander improved their chances of avoiding relegation as they handed a 3-0 defeat to nine-man Celta Vigo.

* PSV Eindhoven stayed on course to retain the Dutch first division title after drawing 0-0 against Vitesse Arnhem while nearest rivals Feyenoord lost 1-2 to the struggling Graafschap Doetinchem.

With six matches to go, leaders PSV have 67 points and second-placed Feyenoord are on 56.

Ajax Amsterdam, who play Roda JC Kerkrade today, are third with 50 points.

Feyenoord were stunned when Graafschap took the lead in the ninth minute as Dennis den Turk managed to make contact with a Rody Turpijn cross and beat goalkeeper Jurek Dudek.

Graafschap plunged Feyenoord into deeper trouble when Zico Tumba doubled the score with a close-range header in the 72nd minute.

Nine minutes later, striker Johan Elmander brought Feyenoord back into the match with a fierce shot, but though they produced several more chances, they could not find the finishing touch.

After Feyenoord dropped three precious points, PSV seemed happy to draw later in the day in a match in which they lacked ideas.

PSV are chasing a league and cup double after beating Heerenveen 3-1 in the Dutch Cup semifinals last Wednesday.

* Danish striker Ebbe Sand hit a hat-trick for Schalke 04 in their 3-1 win over Bayern Munich to go top of the Bundesliga.

The Gelsenkirchen-based club, chasing their first Bundesliga title since 1958, moved two points clear of the deposed leaders.

Bayern are now second with five games remaining in the competition.

Defending champions Bayern, who play Manchester United in Munich on Thursday in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, went ahead after only three minutes at the Olympic Stadium, through Carsten Jancker's goal.

But Schalke, who had not beaten Bayern in Munich since a 1-0 victory in 1983, equalised 11 minutes later when Sand scored from close range after being set up by Emile Mpenza.

The two combined again in the 48th minute with Sand collecting a headed pass from Mpenza to make it 2-1.

Sand, now the Bundesliga's top scorer with 20 goals, sealed victory on 75 minutes, pouncing after Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn failed to block an effort from Mpenza.

- AGENCIES