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May 12, 2001

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Juventus beat Fiorentina 3-1, Milan win derby 6-0

Zinedine Zidane inspired Juventus to a 3-1 win at Fiorentina on Friday to keep the Turin side in the Italian title race, while AC Milan crushed Inter Milan 6-0 in an astonishing derby at the San Siro.

Zidane scored Juve's opener in the 24th minute and set up Croatian defender Igor Tudor for their second four minutes later.

Fiorentina pulled a goal back through midfielder Marco Rossi five minutes before the interval but Zidane's French compatriot David Trezeguet restored Juve's two-goal lead with a header a minute from time.

Juventus, who were without three key first team players, move back into second place on 61 points, three behind AS Roma who have a game in hand against Atalanta Bergamo at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

Defending champions Lazio, who play at lowly Napoli on Saturday, are third on 59 points.

After this weekend all three sides will have four matches to play and Roma, who at one point were nine points clear at the top of the league, have the toughest run-in with ties against Milan and fourth-placed Parma still to come.

Milan's stunning defeat of Inter was their biggest ever in the championship, easily eclipsing their previous best -- a 6-3 win way back in 1911.

Their only comparable defeat of their city rivals was an 8-1 rout in a minor cup competition in March 1918.

The victory was perfectly timed for club president Silvio Berlusconi ahead of his bid to win Sunday's general election. Berlusconi was not at the stadium to see the match as he was in Rome for a rally to mark the end of his election campaign.

The result was Inter's worst home defeat since the start of the championship in its current form in 1929. They conceded six goals in an Italian Cup match against Parma recently but had not let in six in the league for years.

Gianni Comandini gave Milan a perfect start with a goal after three minutes with a first-time left-foot shot which beat keeper Sebastien Frey at his near post.

Comandini added a second in the 19th minute with a glancing header from a cross from Brazilian wing-back Serginho.

Midfielder Federico Giunti scored Milan's third direct from a free-kick in the 53rd minute before Serie A's top striker Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine grabbed the fourth and fifth to take his league tally for the season to 23.

Serginho capped a superb performance down the Milan left with the final goal nine minutes from time.

The match was briefly held up in the second half when two Inter fans invaded the pitch and threatened veteran Milan centre back Alessandro Costacurta.

Inter fans, who already face a possible ban from the San Siro due to disturbances at their last home match, left the ground in their droves before the final whistle.

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