Parma force Juventus to delay title celebrations

OVERSEAS ROUND-UP

Parma prevented Juventus from clinching their 24th Italian league title in front of their home fans yesterday by holding the European champions to a 1-1 draw at Turin's Delle Alpi Stadium.

But the Juventus party is merely delayed. The European Cup finalists hold a six-point lead over second-placed Parma and need only draw in one of their last two matches to lift their second title in three seasons.

The visitors looked the better side early on and were rewarded in the 29th minute when Juve's French playmaker, Zinedine Zidane, deflected a shot by the Argentinian Nestor Sensini past his own goalkeeper, Angelo Peruzzi.

Juventus equalised 12 minutes later through a Nicola Amoruso penalty, awarded after the Italian striker Christian Vieri was fouled by Fabio Cannavaro. Parma players erupted in protest at the decision along with their coach, Carlo Ancelotti, who was shown a red card.

Parma remain two points ahead of Internazionale, held 1-1 at Roma, to keep alive their hopes of taking part in next season's European Cup.

Porto clinched the Portuguese title for a record third successive season when they beat Guimaraes 4-0 away on Saturday. The victory left them 11 points clear of second-placed Sporting, who beat Salgueiros 3-0, with only three matches to go. Two goals each from the Brazilian Mario Jardel and the Slovenian Zlatko Zahovic sealed Porto's historic victory.

Kaiserslautern, German champions in 1991, bounced back into the Bundesliga's top flight after just one season in the second division, sealing promotion with a 7-0 drubbing of Lubeck.