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Inter Milan and Roma were forced to settle for a share of the spoils with respective draws against Sampdoria and Atalanta which gave leaders Juventus the chance to pull clear of the pack later yesterday. |
Inter looked to have secured their seventh win of the season after Fredy Guarin had given the Nerazzurri an 18th minute lead at the San Siro.
However Sampdoria, now under the helm of former midfielder Sinisa Mihajlovic, came fighting back and stunned the hosts when Brazilian midfielder Renan beat Samir Handanovic with a shot from distance.
Inter’s sixth draw of the campaign and second in succession left Walter Mazzarri’s men in fourth but only three points ahead of Fiorentina, who host Verona today, and in danger of trailing Juventus by 10 points when the champions host Udinese in yesterday’s later game.
Early season pacesetters Roma had the chance to regain top spot but instead Rudi Garcia’s men were made to work for what was their fourth consecutive draw.
After a frustrating first half Atalanta broke the deadlock when Roma ‘keeper Morgan De Sanctis fumbled Davide Brivio’s freekick to gift the Bergamo side a 51st minute lead.
Roma recently set a new Serie A record of 10 opening wins but had drawn their last three outings, including a humiliating scoreless affair at home to struggling Cagliari last week.
Garcia had called for calm in midweek but the Giallorossi were forced to dig deep in an intense finish to the match in which Atalanta ‘keeper Andrea Consigli denied both Alessandro Florenzi and Gervinho from close range.
Atalanta’s hopes of a sixth win of the campaign were ended by a 90th minute equaliser from Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman.
Roma’s latest slip has paved the way for Juventus to pull three points ahead and given third-placed Napoli, who are away to Lazio on Monday, the chance to close the gap to Roma to three points.
Earlier Mario Balotelli scored his first league goal in over two months as struggling Serie A giants Milan secured a precious 3-1 win away to 10-man Catania.
Catania, who were reduced to 10 men just after the hour when Panagiotis Tachtsidis saw red for a foul on Balotelli, started brightly and took the lead on 13 minutes when a shot by Lucas Castro deflected off Antonio Nocerino and wrong-footed Gabriel in the Milan net.
Captain Riccardo Montolivo levelled for the visitors shortly after with a splendid first-time strike from a cross deep on the left.
Balotelli, who scored for Milan in a resounding 3-0 Champions League win away to Celtic in midweek, finally ended his goal drought when he beat Mariano Andujar with a freekick on 63 minutes. It was his first league goal since a late consolation in a 2-1 defeat at home to Napoli on September 22.
Kaka virtually secured the points when he beat Andujar with a fine individual effort nine minutes from the whistle.