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Inter, Juve,share points in Turin
AP, MILAN, ITALY
Tuesday, Nov 06, 2007, Page 18
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Parma's Stefano Morrone, left, challenges for the ball with Siena's Paolo De Ceglie during their Italian Serie A soccer match in Parma on Sunday.
PHOTO: EPA
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Inter Milan drew with Juventus 1-1 on Sunday in a clash of two of the favorites for the Serie A title.
Julio Ricardo Cruz put Inter ahead 1-0 in the 41st minute, before Mauro Camoranesi hit a deflected shot to equalize in the 77th.
"I'm sorry because we deserved to win," a disappointed Inter coach Roberto Mancini said. "We should have been more clinical, with a Juve that will never give up. It will serve as a lesson."
Juve coach Claudio Ranieri was more pleased with the result.
"Inter are superior to us but we want to compete for the title," Ranieri said.
Earlier, AS Roma conceded a 90th-minute goal to draw with Empoli 2-2.
Empoli midfielder Sebastian Giovinco leveled the match with a free kick, beating Roma goalkeeper Doni who was standing off his line.
Ighli Vannucchi got Empoli's other goal in the 67th, after Ludovic Giuly and Matteo Brighi had put Roma 2-0 up.
Three other draws were also decided in the final minute on Sunday: Amauri headed in for Palermo to make it 3-3 at Genoa; Ezequiel Lavezzi scored for Napoli in a 1-1 draw with Reggina; and Daniele Galloppa scored a deflected goal to put Siena level at 2-2 with Parma.
Also on Sunday, it was: Cagliari 0, Sampdoria 3; Catania 1, Atalanta 2; and Livorno 0, Udinese 0.
After 11 rounds of the Serie A, Inter lead with 25 points, followed by Fiorentina with 23, Roma with 22, and Juventus with 21.
The match in Turin pitted Inter against the team they replaced as league champion after the Italian match-fixing scandal last year -- and the game lived up to the pre-match hype, albeit slowly.
Inter spent much of the first half trying to play balls behind Juventus' defense. But the Bianconeri back-four were successful in reading the tactic and caught Inter's attack offside on nine occasions before the break.
At the other end, Juve took a more direct route but were restricted to shots from distance, as Inter's midfield shut down the space.
But the game opened up after Cruz collected Cesar's pass and ran into the box to score.
Inter could have made it 2-0 before halftime when Zlatan Ibrahimovic dribbled into the area in the 44th but Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini just managed the prod the ball away before his former teammate hit his shot.
After the break, Juve pressed forward and Alessandro Del Piero and strike partner David Trezeguet both came close in the 51st and 53rd.
But it was Inter that looked more likely to score.
EstebanCambiasso had a goal ruled out for offside in the 59th after Juventus 'keeper Gianluigi Buffon failed to gather Luis Figo's free kick, and Ibrahimovic forced a fine save from the goalkeeper in the 68th.
David Suazo, who replaced Cruz alongside Ibrahimovic in the 65th, also tested Buffon in the 74th and 75th.
But the Bianconeri never gave up and earned the draw when Camoranesi's edge-of-the-area strike clipped Inter defender Cristian Chivu's heel to wrong-foot goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
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