Milan kick off Serie A campaign with a win

Milan made a winning start to their Serie A campaign as Filippo Inzaghi and new signing Ricardo Oliveira gave them a 2-1 victory over Lazio yesterday.

The result left Milan, who started on minus eight points for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal, on minus five, eight points behind city rivals Inter and Roma, who beat Fiorentina and Livorno respectively on Saturday.

Reggina striker Rolando Bianchi scored the first hat-trick of the Serie A season but could not prevent his side losing 4-3 at Palermo, while Catania celebrated their return to the top flight after a 23-year absence with a 1-0 win over Cagliari.

The big game, however, was at the San Siro, where Milan and Lazio had the chance to chip away at the penalty points handed to them by a sports tribunal in July.

Acrobatic saves

Lazio, who started on minus 11 points, began brightly, using the pace of strikers Tommaso Rocchi and Goran Pandev to stretch the home side's ageing defence led by 38-year-old Paolo Maldini.

Milan keeper Dida made a couple of acrobatic saves early on, but the team's nerves were settled in the 27th minute when playmaker Kaka picked out Inzaghi on the edge of the area.

The 33-year-old forward, who struck three times in the Champions League qualifiers against Red Star Belgrade last month, showed that his scoring instincts remained as sharp as ever by angling the ball past Lazio keeper Angelo Peruzzi.

Midfielder Andrea Pirlo had the chance to extend Milan's lead shortly after the interval when he went through alone on goal, but his hesitant shot was saved by Peruzzi.

Brazilian striker Oliveira, signed from Real Betis in the close season to replace the departed Andriy Shevchenko, made his mark by scoring with a header from a corner in the 70th minute just 10 minutes after coming on for Alberto Gilardino.

Lazio pulled one back almost immediately through striker Stephen Makinwa, but the hosts were spending longer and longer periods camped in their half and only Peruzzi stopped Oliveira scoring again at the end of a dizzying run through the defence.