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| December 10, 2002 | Tuesday | Shawwal 5,1423 |
Lopez leads goal spree with hat trick
LONDON, Dec 9: Real Madrid stamped the authority of European clubs on world soccer with victory over Olimpia of Paraguay last week but South Americans including their own Ronaldo made their goals tell in league action around Europe at the weekend.
Claudio Lopez led the way with a hat-trick in the first 37 minutes for Lazio, although Inter Milan came back to draw 3-3 and leave the Roman club one point behind Italian Serie A leaders AC Milan.
Milan went out on top alone after Italy striker Filippo Inzaghi gave them a 1-0 home win over AS Roma.
Lopez was closely followed by Brazil’s Ronaldo, who scored twice as Real carried their improved form into the Spanish first division with a 5-1 win away to title hopefuls Real Mallorca.
Ronaldo scored Real’s first in their 2-0 win over South American champions Olimpia in the World Club Cup final in Yokohama, Japan on Tuesday.
Real’s win on Sunday moved them up to sixth, eight points behind leaders Real Sociedad with a game in hand. Real Sociedad won 1-0 at Sevilla to go four points clear of Valencia, 2-0 winners over Racing Santander.
Barcelona’s domestic troubles continued, however, as they lost 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano to slip to 10th.
Two goals from Paraguay’s Roque Santa Cruz underpinned Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win at VfB Stuttgart to remain eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.
Two goals from Brazilian Marcio Amoroso helped second placed Borussia Dortmund to a 3-1 win over Kaiserslautern. Werder Bremen slipped back to third, behind Dortmund on goal difference, after a 1-1 draw at Schalke 04.
Lopez’s Argentine World Cup team mate Juan Sebastian Veron scored Manchester United’s first goal in a 2-0 home win over leaders Arsenal. The victory puts them firmly back in the English premier league title race.
England’s Paul Scholes scored the other goal as United climbed to third three points behind Arsenal and one behind Chelsea, 3-1 winners at Everton.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, echoing a sentiment often felt by United in their heady days of the very recent past, said: “We got a warning of how much teams want to beat us.”
Wenger’s team, outdone by a hungrier United side, were not the only defending champions in the major European leagues to be beaten at the weekend.
Juventus lost 2-0 at Brescia on Sunday, their first league defeat of the season, squandering the chance to join Milan at the top of Serie A. French champions Olympique Lyon, who lost 2-0 at Paris St Germain in midweek to be overtaken by new leaders Nice.
Dutch league leaders Ajax Amsterdam rested key players ahead of their Champions League game against AS Roma and paid the price as they were held to a 1-1 draw at bottom club Graafschap Doetinchem.—Reuters
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