Italian Serie A

Andrea Pirlo's late free-kick gave stuttering AC Milan a 2-1 win at Cagliari yesterday in Ronaldo's first appearance of the season after injury.

Robert Acquafresca gave the Sardinian side an early lead with a header before Kaka had a penalty saved. Alberto Gilardino brought Milan level on 61 minutes and Pirlo sealed only their fourth league win of the campaign.

Fiorentina missed the chance to reclaim second place after a 0-0 draw at Reggina, allowing 10-man Udinese to leapfrog them into fourth with a 2-0 home win over Siena thanks to goals from lively Italy forwards Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale.

Defender Felipe was sent off for two yellows on half-time but the increasingly impressive Udinese still won easily to thrill coach Pasquale Marino, who penned a new contract on Saturday.

Leaders Inter Milan are three points clear after beating Atalanta 2-1 on Saturday when third-placed AS Roma had a 1-0 win at Genoa.

Second-placed Juventus beat Palermo 4-0 last night at the Stadio delle Alpi with David Trezeguet, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Marchionni scoring their goals.

The weekend's games were the first in Italy's top flight since November 11th when Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri was killed by a police bullet. Authorities banned the fans of six top-flight clubs from travelling to away matches in a bid to avoid a repetition of the trouble that followed Sandri's death.