Champions League: Six Points for the Italians

By: Martha | November 6th, 2007

Valon! He’s back! With a quick two-goal flurry late in the match, Milan had all they needed to down Shakhtar, and Pippo Inzaghi grabbed his second in injury time to make the final score 3-0. Possession in the match was evenly split and both teams had good chances in the first half but, despite cagey play by the home side, Milan eventually broke them down. Gila suffered a knock to his back late in the first half and eventually went off in favor Super Pippo, who came on in the 63rd minute and broke the deadlock just three minutes later. Inzaghi finished from close range to put Milan ahead and, shortly thereafter, held the ball up to create a chance for Kaka: 2-0 in the 72nd second minute, and game over.

Shakhtar were hit hard when the constantly threatening Cristiano Lucarelli went off shorly after Kaka’s goal with a muscle pull, and they were never able to get back into the match. Super Pippo’s second, set up by Kaka in the 93rd minute, was just gravy on top of an excellent, very cold night. Thanks to their win, Milan are now alone at the top of Group D on nine points, three clear of both Shakhtar and Celtic; Benifica are last with just three points. The table could change very suddenly on Matchday 5 (if Milan lose to Benfica and someone wins the Celtic/Shakhtar match, their lead is gone) but, barring disaster and/or some sort of goal explosion by someone else, Milan are awfully close to being assured a place in the knockout stages.

Back home in Italy, Lazio went up 2-0 on a pair of second-half goals from Tommaso Rocchi and held on to beat Werder Bremen 2-1, picking up their first group stage win since 2003 and rising from last to joint-second in Group C. The Romans dominated the first half but failed to make the most of their chances and waited until just before the hour mark to score, when Rocchi pounced on the rebound of his own failed penalty kick. Ten minutes later, the striker doubled the lead thanks to the play of Mourad Meghni, who put him in alone on goal. Though people who saw the keeper’s howler against Fiorentina on the weekend won’t believe it, Rocchi’s goals were sandwiched around a pair of magical saves by 43-year-old Marco Ballotta, who reportedly turned in a great performance. Things got hairy for Ballotta and his teammates after they saw Sanchez Emilson Cribari red-carded in the 86th for a second offense and Bremen halved the lead with a Diego PK, but they held on for the win and three crucial points.