Kaka fires Milan into Serie A lead
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Kaka broke the deadlock with nine minutes left.
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ROME, Italy -- A spectacular late strike from Brazilian substitute Kaka sent AC Milan to the top of Italy's Serie A with a 1-0 win at Empoli.
Champions Juventus slipped to their third defeat in a week, losing 2-0 at Lazio, to fall four points adrift of Milan.
Kaka hammered in Milan's winner from 30 meters on 81 minutes, just six minutes after being sent on by coach Carlo Ancelotti in place of Andrea Pirlo.
"It was an important goal and I'm very happy to have scored," said the 21-year-old.
Milan made few chances against a well-organized Empoli, but Andriy Shevchenko almost broke the deadlock on 37 minutes when he forced a point blank save from keeper Luca Bucci.
A minute later Milan had a fright when Antonio Di Natale squeezed a shot past Milan keeper Dida, only for Tomasso Rocchi to be ruled offside.
"It was a tough, difficult match as expected," said Ancelotti.
Juventus, unbeaten in all competitions this season until last weekend's loss to Inter Milan, went behind on 21 minutes when Bernardo Corradi beat Gianluigi Buffon with a diving header from Stefano Fiore's cross.
Corradi returned the favor just before halftime, playing in Fiore for Lazio's second.
"I believe this victory was due to Lazio's merits rather than Juventus' faults," said Fiore, whose side climbed to fifth.
"We are going through a difficult period but I'm sure that we will rebound," said Juventus coach Marcello Lippi.
Second-placed Roma can join Milan on 30 points if they beat Chievo on Sunday.
