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Football: Batistuta's birthday gift

Monday 26 August 1996 23:02 BST
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Gabriel Batistuta gave Fiorentina the perfect 70th birthday present on Sunday with two goals that gave the Italian Cup winners a 2- 1 victory over Milan, the Serie A champions, in the Super Cup.

The victory, coming on the eve of the anniversary of the club's foundation in 1926, also marked the first time since the pre-season competition between the Cup winners and the League champions was started in 1988 that the Cup winners had won.

Batistuta gave Fiorentina the lead in the 11th minute. Stefan Schwarz picked him out with a lob to the edge of the box and the Argentine striker did the rest, chipping the veteran defender Franco Baresi and scoring at the near post.

Dejan Savicevic equalised for Milan in the 21st minute, weaving past a defender, checking and hitting a left-footed shot that gave Francesco Toldo, the young Fiorentina goalkeeper, little chance.

The score stayed level until the 83rd minute, but with a penalty shoot- out looming, Batistuta took charge.

Marcel Desailly fouled Batistuta, who scored from the free-kick with a shot from 30 yards out which curled over the defence and dipped in under the bar. It was just reward for Fiorentina, who looked by far the more impressive team.

George Weah missed a good opportunity for Milan in the first half, but otherwise looked a little rusty. Roberto Baggio did not play due to an injury and Edgar Davids, Milan's new signing, came on in the second half as substitute but made little impact.

In Portugal, Porto, the champions, kicked off the season with a disappointing 2-2 home draw against Setubal and were lucky to get a late equaliser.

Porto, who are aiming for their third consecutive title this season, were 2-0 down until the 86th minute, when Mario Jardel scored with a header. The goal came after a string of wasted opportunities, including Domingos Oliveira missing a penalty in the 60th minute. He redeemed himself by scoring the equaliser just into extra time.

Setubal, who mounted skilful counter-attacks throughout the game, scored their first goal in the 16th minute, when the unmarked Chiquinho Conde squeezed a shot past Porto's new goalkeeper, Andrzej Wozniak. Conde scored his second goal in the 70th minute.

Benfica were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Braga, despite the visitors being reduced to 10 men in the 54th minute after Rodrigo Carneiro was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Benfica dominated the game but their lack of a first-class striker was apparent throughout. In the 30th minute they also lost their key midfielder Valdo, who suffered a knee injury.

Benfica finally scored in the 81st minute with a penalty taken by Helder after Luis Baltasar tripped up Joao Pinto. Idalecio equalised for Braga with a header two minutes later.

In Brazil, two players left a championship match early on Sunday because they had to catch a plane to Russia to play with the national team.

Andre, the Sao Paulo midfielder, and Narciso, the Santos defender were both substituted during their teams' game, taken to Sao Paulo airport and flown to Rio de Janeiro in a private jet to join the national squad for the journey to Moscow. The problem arose because the match was selected as the day's televised live game, forcing it to be put back three hours from the usual kick-off time.

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