Inter held by Atalanta as title rivals flounder

Italian league leaders Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw at Atalanta on Sunday that prevented them from fully capitalising on slips-up by their main title rivals, Juventus and AC Milan.

Inter, the four-time defending champions, were looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat at Juventus last weekend and they took a 15th-minute lead when their 10-goal top scorer Diego Milito outfoxed three defenders to score.

Jose Mourinho’s side were made to toil in the second period following the 65th-minute dismissal of midfielder Wesley Sneijder for two bookable offences and they allowed Atalanta to snatch a point through substitute Simone Tiribocchi with nine minutes to play.

Inter lead the table with 36 points from 16 games. Milan are five points back in second place after losing 2-0 at home to Palermo, while Juve trail Milan by a point after their 3-1 loss at Bari on Saturday.

Milan went into their meeting with Palermo on the back of five straight Serie A victories but they were undone by two goals early in the second half that owed much to the brilliance of Fabrizio Miccoli.

Miccoli cut in from the left flank before bending a fine finish around Dida in the 49th minute and he provided the spark for the visitors’ second goal shortly after the hour mark when he sped down the left before finding Javier Pastore, who in turn fed Mark Bresciano to slam home from close range.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina’s recent dismal run continued with a 2-1 defeat at Chievo, while Parma kept pace with the top three by winning 2-1 at home to Bologna and under-performing Lazio won 1-0 at home to Genoa.

Roma travel to Sampdoria in Sunday’s late match and the club from the capital will move up to fifth place, a point behind Parma, if they win.

Juventus’s week went from bad to worse on Saturday, when they followed up their mid-week Champions League elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich by losing 3-1 at promoted Bari.

Ciro Ferrara’s team were second-best throughout and their performance was symbolised by a missed penalty in the 68th minute by misfiring summer signing Diego.