Football: Edmundo copies Batistuta double

BRAZIL'S EDMUNDO and Argentina's Gabriel Batistuta each scored twice yesterday as Fiorentina thrashed Salernitana 4-0 to open a three- point lead in Serie A.

Fiorentina, rebounding from a last-gasp loss to Roma last week, scored their goals in the second half after Salernitana had the defender Salvatore Monaco sent off for a violent tackle on Edmundo. Batistuta, with eight goals, is the league's leading goalscorer.

Milan, after a week of locker-room upheaval, came from behind with goals from Oliver Bierhoff, Leonardo and George Weah to surprise an unlucky Roma side 3-2 and maintain their place among the leaders.

Elsewhere, newly promoted Perugia upset title hopefuls Parma 2-1 while the big spenders of Lazio were held 1-1 at home by Vicenza.

Fabrizio Ravanelli and Titi Camara both scored twice against bottom-of-the-table Sochaux as Marseilles hit top form in the French First Division on Saturday.

A brilliant header by Ravanelli two minutes before the break set his side on course for a 4-0 win. Camara, who has struggled to settle in recent months, was prominent in the second half. He hit a superb first goal, a fine volley from a cross by the captain, Laurent Blanc, and struck his second from close range. Ravanelli wrapped it up with a last-minute goal.

Metz, title contenders last season, finally snatched their first victory of the new campaign with a 1-0 success at home to Monaco. The team from eastern France had to wait for a penalty on the half-hour for Bruno Rodriguez to score the only goal.

An inspired performance by the Brazil striker Elber helped the Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich crush the champions Kaiserslautern 4-0.

Bayern, twice beaten by Kaiserslautern before losing their title to them last season, were in a class of their own this time. Elber delighted the 63,000 crowd packing Munich's Olympic stadium by scoring two goals and setting up the other two.

Bayern were already 2-0 ahead when Elber followed up a shot from midfielder Thorsten Fink that bounced back off the post to score his first goal. Four minutes later Elber, who scored a hat-trick in Brazil's 5-1 demolition of Ecuador earlier this month, struck again from close range to become the Bundesliga's leading marksman with eight goals.

It was a fine pass by Elber that allowed midfielder Mario Basler to put the home side in front. He coolly flicked the ball over Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Andreas Reinke in the 10th minute. The gifted Brazilian then set up Iranian striker Ali Daei to give Bayern a 2-0 lead from close range seconds before half-time. The win extended Bayern's unbeaten run to nine matches.

It was another disappointing day for Borussia Monchengladbach who were beaten 2-1 at VfL Bochum and are now last. They took the lead through playmaker Karlheinz Pflipsen, but Thomas Reis equalised four minutes later before fellow midfielder Sebastian Schindzielorz scored the winner for Bochum.

Spartak Moscow, the most successful club in Russian football history, secured their sixth Russian Premier Division title in seven years with a 3-1 home win over Shinnik Yaroslavl.