AC Milan's midfielder Manuel Rui Costa (l) vies with Parma's forward Fabio Vignaroli during their Italian serie A football match at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Saturday. (AFP Photo)

MILAN, Italy, April 24--AC Milan moved three points clear of Juventus at the top of Serie A, at least for 24 hours, after beating Parma 3-0 on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Goals from Brazilians Kaka and Cafu and Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson eased the champions to a win which put them on 73 points.
Two goals from David Di Michele helped Udinese climb above Sampdoria into fourth place with a 3-2 win at Siena.
Milan, without the injured Andrea Pirlo and the suspended Gennaro Gattuso, dominated from the outset and took the lead after 34 minutes.
Rui Costa had a shot parried by Parma keeper Sebastien Frey and, after Andriy Shevchenko's follow-up was blocked, Kaka pounced on the loose ball.
Clarence Seedorf and Shevchenko wasted good chances after the break while Frey produced a fine save with his feet to foil Tomasson.
European Footballer of the Year Shevchenko also played a part in the second goal when he broke down the right and slipped the ball into the path of Tomasson who beat Frey.
Milan made it 3-0 when Ukrainian Shevchenko's shot was half blocked and Cafu lashed in the rebound.
Frey, linked with a move away from Parma at the end of the season, made another fine stop to thwart Tomasson as Milan threatened to run riot.
Carlo Ancelotti's side face freshly crowned Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Tuesday.
Udinese will be dreaming of joining Milan in Europe next season after getting a grip on the fourth place which brings a spot in the qualifying round of the Champions League.
Udinese are in pole position with 53 points while Sampdoria, have 52. Palermo (48) are at bottom club Atalanta.
Siena, recent winners over Roma and Milan, twice fought back to level before Vincenzo Iaquinta's 66th-minute goal decided the outcome.
Di Michele put Udinese ahead in the sixth minute with a superb volley from 20 meters. Three minutes later Massimo Maccarone brought the home side level with a glancing header from an Enrico Chiesa free kick.
Udinese went back in front through Di Michele following a 53rd-minute error by Siena defender Bruno Cirillo.
It again proved a short-lived advantage for the visitors as four minutes later Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei found the target with a deflected shot after Chiesa dummied a pass from Maccarone.
Udinese clinched maximum points when Iaquinta turned sharply inside the area to fire past Siena's Austrian keeper Alex Manninger.

TORONTO,
April 24--Tom Danielson powered up Brasstown Bald to claim a stage win and the overall lead in the Tour de Georgia on Saturday, while Lance Armstrong finally made his presence felt, coming home in third, Reuters reported.
While the 182km fifth stage was won by a member of the Discovery Channel team, defending champion and six-time Tour deFrance winner Armstrong was the rider spectators expected to see in the leader's jersey at the end of the day.
Danielson grabbed the victory when he attacked on the final climb to the 1,458-metre summit of the snow-dusted Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest peak, crossing 15 seconds ahead of breakaway partner and fellow American Levi Leipheimer.
Armstrong, who has been in disappointing form during the six-stage Tour, finally made an impression on the race with his third place ahead of compatriot Floyd Landis, who surrendered the yellow jersey.
With only the flat 201km final stage from Blairsville to Alpharetta remaining, Danielson is be expected to protect his five-second lead over Leipheimer in the overall classification.

Detroit Pistons forward Tayshan Prince (l) drives around Philadelphia 76ers forward Rodney Rogers in the second half of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Saturday. (Reuters Photo)

TORONTO, April 24--Rasheed Wallace had 29 points and Tayshaun Prince added 23 as the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons eased to a 106-85 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game One of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Detroit got off to a sluggish start in the first game of the best-of-seven series and trailed by 16 points early in the opening quarter, but by the half, the Pistons had the a 48-46 lead and assumed control after the intermission.
Allen Iverson, winner of the NBA scoring title for a fourth time, turned in another tireless effort for the 76ers, scoring a game-high 30 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Chris Webber chipped in with 27 points but the 76ers could not sustain the level of energy they displayed in the opening quarter.
Richard Hamilton had 17 points and did a solid job guarding Iverson while Antonio McDyess contributed 15 points to the Pistons' cause.
Ben Wallace also made his presence felt, particularly on the boards with seven blocks and 10 rebounds.
Game Two is scheduled for Tuesday, also in Auburn Hills.
In Boston, the Celtics had six players in double figures led by a 21-point effort from Raef LaFrentz as they cruised to a 102-82 decision over the Indiana Pacers in their opening Eastern Conference best-of-seven match-up.
In Dallas, an inspired Tracy McGrady poured in a game-high 34 points to guide the Houston Rockets to a well-deserved 98-86 win over the Mavericks in Game One of their Western Conference quarterfinal.
In Seattle, Ray Allen scored 28 points and Jerome James added 17 points and 15 rebounds as the SuperSonics held on to claim an 87-82 win over the Sacramento Kings in Game One of their Western Conference quarterfinal.

SALVO, USA, April 24--Top seed Andy Roddick advanced to the US Men's Clay Court Championships final for a fifth consecutive year with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Austria's Jurgen Melzer in Houston on Saturday, Reuters said.
In the other semifinal, French sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean battled past qualifier Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-1 7-6 in a night match.
After winning the event in 2001 and 2002, Roddick suffered subsequent final defeats to Andre Agassi and Tommy Haas but will be confident of beating a player he holds a 4-1 record against.
"It's a ritual I enjoy and hope to continue," Roddick said of reaching the final.
The American struggled early in the match and trailed 3-0 and 4-2 in the first set before taking control.
After winning three games in a row, Roddick hit a blistering ace to reach set point in the 10th game, then placed a drop shot that Melzer could not get over the net.
The second set was much easier for Roddick and once he was able to read Melzer's key weapon, his drop shot, the world number four cruised to victory.
"It (the drop shot) was definitely something I was looking for," Roddick said.
"It's a shot you don't see that much. He got me on the first one and then I was able to get on them after that and on a couple of big points I was looking for it."
Grosjean surprised second seed Agassi on Friday to reach the semifinals and continued his good form with a strong first set against Lapentti.
The Ecuadorean battled back in the second and even held a set point in the 10th game.
In the tiebreaker, Lapentti surged 4-2 ahead before Grosjean started his charge with a backhand passing winner.
The Frenchman edged ahead with another passing shot at 5-4 and secured his place in the final when Lapentti double-faulted on the first match point.
Grosjean's victory put him in his first final since Queens Club last June, where he lost to Roddick.

MADRID, Spain, April 24--Real Madrid left it late but came back from a goal down to notch up their fifth consecutive victory with a 2-1 win over Champions League contenders Villarreal here on Saturday, AFP reported.
Goals in the last 20 minutes from Ronaldo and Michel Salgado helped save the Spanish giants' blushes and keep up the pressure on leaders Barcelona, who now only have a three point advantage although they also have a game in hand.
Villarreal were well on their way to their first win in 12 encounters with Real until Ronaldo headed an equaliser after 70 minutes, after some outstanding service provided by David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane.
Five minutes later, Ronaldo turned in the ball from the touchline for Michel Salgado to blast home the winner from the edge of the area.
Real even managed to survive the final 12 minutes after Walter Samuel got his marching orders for a second yellow card after a brutal challenge on Villarreal defender Armando Sa.
The expulsions didn't end there, with Zidane and Villarreal's Quique Alvarez being shown red cards for fighting, in the midst of a melee involving a dozen players, in the dying seconds of injury time.
The game was a fractious affair from the moment Juan Roman Riquelme gave Villarreal a controversial lead after 38 minutes.
Riquelme scored from the penalty spot, his seventh of the season, after former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan got the highly dubious penalty when he appeared to lean on Real defender Francisco Pavon, before crashing to the floor.
However, Forlan will be regretting the two chances he missed early in the second half, which could have put the game beyond Real's reach.
Atletico Madrid's slim chances of getting into Europe next season became even more remote after they went down 1-0 at lowly Osasuna earlier on Saturday.
Australian striker John Aloisi headed the Pamplona-based side ahead after just three minutes and despite Atletico putting on the pressure during the second half, Osasuna managed to hang onto their slender lead.
Osasuna have now won their last three egames after failing to get a victory during the rest of 2005.

DELRAY BEACH, USA, April 24ÑLindsay Davenport and Venus Williams romped to victories and gave the United States a 2-0 lead over a below-strength Belgium in the Fed Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, Reuters reported.
World number one Davenport began the tie by blasting number 392 Evelyne Van Hyfte 6-0 6-2 before Williams overpowered 34-year-old Els Callens 6-2 6-2.
Van Hyfte was completely overmatched in her Fed Cup debut, unable to deal with Davenport's power as the American won the first set in 13 minutes.
"Lindsay hit her groundstrokes very well," said US captain Zina Garrison. "I just wanted to make sure that she stayed focused, keep going and play her game."
Venus Williams was substituting for her younger sister Serena, who was forced to sit on the sidelines cheering on the team because of an ankle injury she sustained two weeks ago at a tournament in Amelia Island.
"Zina wanted me here and I came and what do you know, I got my chance," Venus said.
The veteran Callens tried to mix it up against the more powerful Williams, but was unable to contend with the power of the woman 11 years her junior in swirling winds.
Williams has struggled in her last two tournaments on clay courts but looked completely at home on the hard, finding the angles with her big groundstrokes.
The United States are looking for a record 18th Fed Cup title, although they have mot won it since 2000.
Davenport can close out the tie with a win over Callens on Sunday.

HOUSTON, USA,
April 24--Defending champion Vijay Singh seized a share of the lead alongside Australian Gavin Coles here Saturday after three rounds of the five million-dollar Houston Open, Reuters reported.
Singh, winner of two of the last three tournaments here, posted a two-under-par 70 to join Coles, who carded a 71, on 11-under 205.
Fiji's Singh, ranked number two in the world, bogeyed two of his first four holes before nabbing birdies on eight, 10, 12 and 15 to pull into a share of the lead.
"I'm not going to worry about him (Coles) at all, just go out and play solid golf and see if I can pull it off," Singh said.
Coles, who came into the round with a share of the lead, birdied the first and fifth before surrendering back-to-back bogeys at seven and eight to fall to even for the day.
He got back in the red with a birdie at the par-five ninth.
Britain's Greg Owen carded a 70 for sole possession of third place on 206.
Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain and American Brett Quigley were tied for fourth on 207.
John Daly, Joe Ogilvie and Tom Byrum were a further stroke back on 208.
Daly shot a one-over 73, recovering nicely from double-bogeys at seven and 11 with three birdies over the next four holes.
Singh, 42, hopes to use to take advantage of his experience over the younger Coles.
"I've never played with Gavin Coles," Singh said. "I'm looking forward to it. I think he's a very experienced player himself. I mean, he's not experienced on this Tour much, but he's been playing around the world for a while."
Singh said he plans to pay special attention to how he is driving the ball on Sunday.
"I think I have to drive the ball well," he said. "It's getting harder to keep the ball in the fairways. The ground is pretty hard and firm so it's running out, a lot of shots out there. That's the key tomorrow."

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
April 24--AB de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar and Jacques Kallis earned South Africa a commanding lead in the third test against West Indies on Saturday, Reuters reported.
South Africa were 521 for eight at the close of play on the third day, an advantage of 225 runs. Opener De Villiers scored a career-best 178, Dippenaar made 71 and Kallis hit 78.
De Villiers and Dippenaar, who resumed on 253 for one, set the tone for the day with a partnership of 143 for the second wicket.
West Indies struggled to penetrate on a sound batting pitch and captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul's field placings were invariably defensive. The home side, however, picked up four wickets after tea.
De Villiers and Dippenaar were largely untroubled until substitute fielder Dwayne Smith separated the pair in the last over before lunch. Dippenaar was run out when Smith dashed from fine leg to backward square to throw down the stumps at the non-striker's end.
Smith was on the field for Dwayne Bravo, who left holding a towel to his face after being struck by a ball driven into the covers by Dippenaar.
Bravo, who fielded in sunglasses, sustained a minor cut above his left eyebrow that did not require stitches. He returned to the field after lunch.
De Villiers batted on until the eighth over before tea when he edged a full delivery from fast bowler Reon King and was caught by wicketkeeper Courtney Browne.
It was King's 50th test wicket and ended a third-wicket stand of 58 between De Villiers and Kallis.
De Villiers, whose previous best was 109 against England in Centurion in January, showed maturity and patience in his 10th test.
He batted for 10 hours, faced 351 balls and hit 15 fours and a six.
Ten balls before tea Herschelle Gibbs pushed forward to a ball from off spinner Chris Gayle and was caught by Bravo at slip for eight.