European Football: Milan celebrate hat-trick: San Siro success story

MILAN claimed their third successive Italian title yesterday despite being held 2-2 by relegation-threatened Udinese at the San Siro. The draw leaves Milan five points clear of second-placed Juventus.

Zvonimir Boban opened the scoring in the 60th minute with a powerful shot, but Stefano Borgonovo pulled his side level in the 69th minute in a rare Udinese counter-attack.

Within a minute, the champions regained the lead with a superb strike from Marco Simone, but the visitors silenced Milan's supporters with a well-worked 71st-minute equaliser by Fabio Rossitto straight from the restart.

However, the home supporters found their voices again at the end, flooding on to the pitch to salute the first club to win three consecutive titles since Torino in the 1940s. Milan's players completed a lap of honour, unfurling a huge red- and-black flag emblazoned with the number 14 to mark the number of championships they have won.

'This was undoubtedly the most difficult of the three titles,' Fabio Capello, the Milan coach, said. 'The margin of superiority over our rivals was not so great as in the past.'

The Juventus striker, Gianluca Vialli, returned to form with a hat-trick in his side's 6-1 thrashing of Lazio.

Sampdoria warmed up for the Italian Cup final against Ancona with a 3-1 win over the Uefa Cup finalists, Internazionale. Parma, Arsenal's Cup- Winners' Cup final opposition, beat Cagliari 3-1.

Romario, the Barcelona striker, was taken to hospital with a serious knee injury during the 3-1 win over Valencia on Saturday. Barcelona remain three points behind the Spanish leaders, Deportivo La Coruna, who beat Tenerife 2-0 yesterday. The striker, Claudio Barragan, scored the goals.