Italy round-up: Milan dent Inter's hopes

AC Milan severely damaged Internazionale FC’s hopes of regaining the Serie A title with a 1-0 win in the Milan derby.

Milan on top
Milan had the better of an open first half and came closest to scoring as Portuguese playmaker Rui Costa’s header from Serginho’s corner forced Inter captain Javier Zanetti to clear off the line. Milan created the clearer chances, with Gennaro Gattuso’s early shot from outside the penalty area forcing Francesco Toldo to tip over the crossbar.

Shevchenko chances
Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko twice went close for Milan, first shooting narrowly over from the right-hand corner of the Inter penalty area and then bursting into the box only to be denied by a perfectly-timed tackle from Marco Materazzi.

Deflected effort
Milan defender Alessandro Costacurta nearly opened the scoring shortly before half-time, seeing his shot from a corner deflected narrowly wide, with Luigi Di Biagio’s long-range strike, which was comfortably saved by Milan goalkeeper Dida, Inter’s only real effort of the opening period.

Forwards foiled
The second half began in similar fashion, with Filippo Inzaghi bursting clear only to see his shot blocked by Toldo before Shevchenko was denied twice in a matter of seconds, with first Fabio Cannavaro and then Materazzi producing timely interventions.

Composed finish
However, Milan finally found a way through two minutes past the hour, as Rui Costa’s perceptive through-ball found Inzaghi with space inside the Inter area, and the Italian international striker beat Toldo and found the corner of the net with a fine first-time finish.

Further opportunities
The goal seemed to inspire Milan, and Rui Costa cut in from the left only to hit a weak shot straight at Toldo, before Shevchenko’s cross found Gattuso completely unmarked in the Inter area, but the midfield player steered his header wide. Inter’s task was made even more difficult after 66 minutes as Colombian international defender Iván Cordoba was shown the red card for a tackle on Serginho.

Recoba denied
However, after going down to ten men, Inter came more into the match, and first Alvaro Recoba forced Dida to tip his cross-shot over the crossbar and then, after Shevchenko had shot just wide, Recoba threatened again, as his low shot was pushed behind by Dida, but Milan comfortably held on.

Juventus in control
The result left Juventus FC with a five-point lead at the top of the table, while Milan joined their neighbours on 55 points. Juventus visit Bologna FC on Sunday, while fourth-placed S.S. Lazio are away to Modena FC and Parma AC, in fifth, travel to AS Roma.

Late equaliser denies Como
In Saturday’s early game, Como Calcio seemed to have earned three points which would have boosted their faint hopes of avoiding relegation as Nicola Amoruso’s 28th-minute goal gave them a narrow lead at home to AC Perugia, for whom Fabio Grosso missed a penalty with 14 minutes remaining. However, two minutes into added time, Fabrizio Miccoli scored an equaliser for Perugia that meant Como stayed second bottom in the standings, while Perugia remained in eleventh place.