Inter held to leave lead under threat
Saturday, April 10, 2010
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ACF Fiorentina snatched a 2-2 draw at FC Internazionale Milano to put the Nerazzurri's lead at the top of Serie A under threat, and Parma FC also left the best until last at SSC Napoli.
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Top of Serie A since 24 October, FC Internazionale Milano could go into Monday in second place provided AS Roma overcome Atalanta BC on Sunday, with a 2-2 draw at ACF Fiorentina raising the pressure on José Mourinho's side.
Having been denied by the post twice in their 2-1 loss to Roma two weeks ago, the woodwork thwarted Inter's Diego Milito after four minutes, and Fiorentina twisted the knife when the 21-year-old Keirrison collected Gianluca Comotto's pass from the left to beat Júlio César on 11 minutes. Mourinho piled on the pressure after the break, fielding four forwards – Milito, Mario Balotelli, Samuel Eto'o and Goran Pandev – and it paid off, with Maicon setting up Milito to level on 74 minutes.
Eto'o diverted Balotelli's cross past Sébastian Frey nine minutes from time as the champions – who completed a UEFA Champions League quarter-final victory against PFC CSKA Moskva in the week – moved in for the kill, but Per Krøldrup brought Cesare Maldini's side back to terms within 60 seconds. The sides will meet again on Tuesday in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, with Inter 1-0 up from February's opener.
In the evening's earlier game, Parma FC came from behind to earn a 3-2 away win against fellow European wannabes SSC Napoli. Fabio Quagliarella put the hosts ahead early on, but goals from Luca Antonelli and Antonio Lucarelli turned the game on its head in the space of five second-half minutes. Quagliarella then set up Marek Hamšík to equalise before being dismissed for a second bookable offence, with Hernán Crespo teeing up Luis Jiménez to score the winner three minutes from time.
