The Hindu : Sport / Football : Violence mars Milan Derby

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 14, 2005

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Sport - Football

Violence mars Milan Derby

LONDON: Italian police braced for crowd trouble all week, but they weren't expecting it to erupt in Milan.

Security was expected to be tight for Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal between Juventus and Liverpool in Turin, but few were expecting the trouble to happen 24 hours earlier.

On Tuesday, AC Milan was leading cross-town rival Inter Milan 1-0 and 3-0 on aggregate in another quarterfinal when the match was stopped because Milan goalkeeper Dida was injured by a flare thrown from the crowd.

The six-time European champion was awarded a 1-0 win, but UEFA's disciplinary committee could make the final 3-0 after an investigation.

In the other quarterfinal, Chelsea lost to Bayern Munich 3-2, but still advanced with a 6-5 aggregate win.

Trouble begins

Inter fans started the trouble after a 71st-minute goal by Esteban Cambiasso was ruled out for a foul.

Dida was hit on the left shoulder in the 73rd and was treated at midfield. Both teams were escorted off the field about 10 minutes later.

``He's OK, although he does have some pain where he was hit,'' AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf said of Dida. ``The government, the entire country, has to understand that something must be done.''

After 10 more minutes passed, German referee Markus Merk tried to restart play, but more flares were thrown onto the field and UEFA officials quickly abandoned the match in the 75th, sending Milan to the last four and in search of its seventh European Cup title.

Dida, who played superbly before he was struck by the flare, was replaced by Christian Abbiati for the brief restart.

Andriy Shevchenko gave Milan the lead in the 30th minute, blasting in a shot from the edge of the area for his fifth goal in this season's Champions League.

In Munich, Frank Lampard scored the first goal in the 30th minute, his third against Bayern in the two-leg series.

Claudio Pizarro levelled in the 65th, but Didier Drogba reclaimed the lead for Chelsea with a header in the 80th. Paolo Guerreo then scored in the 90th, and Mehmet Scholl added the winner in injury time.

The results: Quarterfinals (second leg): Bayern Munich 3, Chelsea 2 (Chelsea advances on 6-5 aggregate); Inter Milan 0, AC Milan 1, match suspended in the 73rd minute (AC Milan advances) — AP

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