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Inter fight back to stall Juventus
Juventus' lead at the top of Serie A was cut to four points after they drew 2-2 at Inter Milan in a gripping match at the San Siro.
Second-placed AC Milan defeated Chievo 1-0 earlier in the day to reduce the gap from six to three points, but the league leaders appeared to be thriving on the pressure when they stormed into a 2-0 lead.
Pavel Nedved's shot took a wicked deflection off the shin of strike partner Marcelo Zalayeta to give Juve a 53rd minute lead.
And Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled their advantage when he converted a penalty after Zalayeta was brought down.
But Inter, who began the day 15 points behind the leaders and desperately needing to win to revive their fading championship dream, refused to lie down and scored twice in the final 11 minutes.
Substitute Christian Vieri found the bottom corner of the net with an angled drive and Adriano's volley from Obafemi Martins' cross gave Inter their 11th draw in 13 matches.
Juventus have 32 points from their 13 matches played, while defending champions Milan have 28. A point for Inter saw them climb to seventh, but still a massive 15 points off the pace.
Inter desperately needed to win to revive their fading championship dream and they held their own in a goalless first half, even though Juve came closest to breaking the deadlock when Nedved's header was blocked on the line by Edgar Davids.
But the tide turned in the visitors' favour after the break thanks to a large slice of luck.
Zalayeta was credited with the goal, but in truth he knew little about it.
Mauro Camoranesi shrugged off a challenge from Davids and slipped the ball through for Nedved, whose right-footed drive clipped Zalayeta's leg and wrong-footed Francesco Toldo.
Zalayeta was then tripped up by Toldo as he tried to take the ball round the Inter keeper after latching onto Camoranesi's diagonal pass and Ibrahimovic slotted home from 12 yards.
Christian Vieri gave Inter a lifeline with his cool finish 11 minutes from time and Adriano ensure a nail-biting finale with his 10th goal of the season.
Hernan Crespo scored his fourth goal in eight days as AC Milan edged Chievo in Verona.
Crespo, who opened his Milan account with a goal in the Italian Cup last Saturday before netting twice in their Champions League victory against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday, continued his rich vein of form with the only goal five minutes into the second half.
Kaka dribbled his way towards the Chievo goal only to see his path blocked by two defenders, but the ball ricocheted off the Brazilian's shin and fell kindly at Crespo's feet.
The Argentine striker, deputising for the injured Andrei Shevchenko, took his time and slotted the ball left-footed past Luca Marchegiani for his first league goal of the season.
Cagliari climbed to fourth behind Udinese with a 3-2 win at Lazio. Goran Pandev gave Lazio an early lead, but Antonio Langella equalised for the Sardinians before half-time. Lazio were then reduced to 10 men in the 57th minute when their keeper Angelo Peruzzi was sent off for a professional foul and so striker Roberto Muzzi was sacrificed for Matteo Sereni. Eight minutes later the substitute keeper was picking the ball out of the net when Mauro Esposito put the finishing touch to Langella's enticing left-wing cross. Langella was again the provider 19 minutes from time when Gianfranco Zola's clinical strike made it 3-1. Massimo Oddo converted a late penalty after Simone Inzaghi was brought down, but Cagliari held on for their first away win since being promoted. Palermo rose to fifth after winning 2-0 at Brescia where Lamberto Zauli and Franco Brienza were on target for the Sicilians. Messina fell two places to sixth after drawing 1-1 at home to Fiorentina, while a goalless draw at Bologna saw Lecce drop to eighth. Francesco Flachi's last-gasp penalty gave Sampdoria a 1-0 win against Parma which moved the Genoa club up to ninth position. Reggina boosted their chances of surviving the drop at the expense of Atalanta with a 1-0 win against the bottom club in Bergamo where Carlos Paredes grabbed the winner. On Saturday Vincenzo Montella and Francesco Totti scored two goals each as Roma won 4-0 at struggling Siena to ease their relegation fears. In-form Udinese extended their unbeaten run to seven matches with a hard-fought 2-1 victory away to Livorno which cemented third place. |
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