Honors even in 'Italian derby'

ROME: Italian giants Juventus and Inter Milan played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olympico on Sunday.

Inter extended its lead at the top of the table to two points over Fiorentina, with Roma following a point further back and one ahead of Juve.

It could have been more for Roberto Mancini's men who took a first-half lead through Argentine striker Julio Cruz before Argentina-born Italy international Mauro Camoranesi snatched a share of the spoils with a deflected equalizer 13 minutes from time.

Inter will probably be the happier of the teams having maintained its unbeaten record this season at the ground of one of its fiercest title rivals, and that despite injury problems that saw the likes of Patrick Vieira, Francesco Toldo, Marco Materazzi and Dejan Stankovic sitting in the stands.

Cruz opened the scoring just before the break when he broke Juve's offside trap and latched onto Brazilian midfielder Cesar's through ball before firing past Gianluigi Buffon.

But Camoranesi picked up a headed knock-down from substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta before seeing his shot deflect off Argentine centerback Walter Samuel to leave Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar helpless in the Inter goal.

Earlier in the day, Roma missed out on the chance to close the gap on Inter when a late collapse saw it throw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Empoli.

First-half goals from French winger Ludovic Giuly and Matteo Brighi had put the visiting Romans in charge and for more than an hour it looked set to cruise to victory.

But with 23 minutes remaining Ighli Vannucchi reduced the deficit and Sebastian Giovinco snatched an injury-time equalizer to deny Luciano Spaletti's injury-depleted team.

"In the first half, after the two goals, we thought the match was going to be easy," admitted Roma's Brazilian midfielder Alessandro Mancini.

"Unfortunately we conceeded two goals and came away with a draw which we weren't expecting. You have to keep your concentration from the first to last minutes.

"This is a step backwards. This is the kind of game that wins you titles (if you win). Now we have to stay calm and composed, the season is long."

It was a day of late goals in Italy with three more match results changed by last-minute or injury-time goals.

Siena snatched a share of the spoils from Parma in a 2-2 draw as Daniele Galloppa scored in the last minute.

High-flying Napoli needed an injury-time goal from striker Ezequiel Lavezzi to deny rock-bottom Reggina its first win of the season, forcing it to settle for a 1-1 draw in the south.

And Palermo left with a point from its trip to Genoa after Brazilian Amauri's last-gasp header ensured a 3-3 draw for the Sicilians.

On Saturday, AC Milan's dismal home league form continued as Torino frustrated the San Siro faithful by holding out for a 0-0 draw.

In six matches at the San Siro, Milan has earned four draws and two defeats, managing a paltry three goals.

The result leaves Milan ninth in the table and 11 points off the top, but general manager Adriano Galliani blasted the league's referees for what he perceived to be bias against his team.

"Milan played an excellent first half and I did not want to get angry with the referees again, but the repetition of their errors against us is crazy. This cannot go on," he said.

Meanwhile a goal from Giampaolo Pazzini on 19 minutes proved enough to send Fiorentina up to second as the Viola won 1-0 at struggling Lazio.

It was Lazio's third defeat in a row and saw it drop to 15th, just one point above the relegation zone.

AFP

(China Daily 11/06/2007 page23)