Soccer: Inter Milan hold Juventus at bay

Christian Vieri's 18th goal of the season gave Inter Milan a 1-0 win over arch-rivals AC Milan in the city derby at the San Siro, a result that keeps Inter at the top of the Italian first division.

Vieri's 77th-minute goal, which came against the run of the play after AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati parried Nicola Ventola's shot, allowed Inter to retain their one-point lead over Juventus, who beat Bologna 2-1 at home, setting up a titanic clash between Inter and Juventus this weekend.

A further point behind are defending champions AS Roma, whose title defence faltered with a 1-1 draw at struggling Lecce.

Juventus needed a stroke of luck against Bologna - a farcical late own-goal by defender Massimo Tarantino.

His bungled header from a Gianluca Pessotto cross completed the comeback for Juventus, begun by French striker David Trezeguet's headed equaliser shortly after Lamberto Zauli's opener for in-form Bologna.

Zauli and Juventus substitute Cristiano Zenoni had been sent off shortly before the deciding goal.

Juventus coach Marcello Lippi was delighted, saying: "It was a great performance and a great game. I could not have asked more of the players."

There was no such response from Roma, who hit the post twice in their draw with Lecce.

* Valencia reclaimed the Spanish league leadership, after relinquishing it for a little under 24 hours to Real Madrid, with a 1-0 win at Real Zaragoza.

Francisco Rufete's header after 25 minutes was enough to give Valencia three points from a dire game.

They have 50 points from 28 matches. Defending champions Real Madrid are a point in arrears, despite winning 1-0 at Celta Vigo.

Deportivo are third with 47 points, followed by Barcelona and Betis with 46.

In a duel marked by tight defending, Valencia and Zaragoza had few clear-cut opportunities to score.

* In Germany, Borussia Dortmund drew 1-1 with lowly St Pauli, and Kaiserslautern triumphed in a five-goal thriller at home to Wolfsburg.

However, the Bundesliga's prime movers were Bayern Munich.

In-form Bayern, on track for a historic fourth consecutive title, beat Stuttgart 2-0 to climb within three points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who drew 2-2 at Freiburg.

With nine games to go, Leverkusen have 50 points and Dortmund are on 49 after taking just three points from the last 12.

Kaiserslautern are third on 48 and resurgent Bayern are breathing down their necks with 47.

It was a great round for Bayern. Rivals Schalke 04 were beaten 2-0 at Energie Cottbus and Dortmund dropped two points at St Pauli.

* In a top-of-the-table clash in the Dutch division one, Ajax and Feyenoord fought out a 1-1 draw.

Ajax have 51 points, five more than Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.

Heerenveen are fourth with 42 points.

- AGENCIES