Inter clicked ominously into gear ahead of their Champions League trip to Manchester United with an impressive 2-0 victory at Genoa on Saturday.
Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli maintained Inter’s seven-point lead at the top of Serie A.
The only negatives for coach Jose Mourinho were injuries to center-backs Marco Materazzi and Nicolas Burdisso, who both left the game during the first half.
PHOTO: AFP
Inter got off to a wonderful start when Dejan Stankovic played in Ibrahimovic in the second minute and the big Sweden forward held off two challenges before chipping Genoa goalkeeper Rubinho.
Genoa had a real go at Inter in the first 45 minutes and Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar twice had to save the champions with excellent stops from Thiago Motta and Giuseppe Biava.
Any chance the hosts had of getting back into the game ended just past the hour mark though, when teenage forward Balotelli added the second.
In Turin, Juventus toiled for long periods against Torino in a Turin derby that was dominated by good goalkeeping until Giorgio Chiellini’s 81st minute winner.
Matteo Sereni made a diving one-handed save from Vicenzo Iaquinta early on, while Torino’s Roberto Stellone headed over the bar from 6m out. Juve’s Gianluigi Buffon then dived full length to hold a Simone Barone header, before Sereni saved Iaquinta’s header on the line.
After the break, Juve almost took the lead when Sereni beat out a Chiellini header and Hasan Salihamidzic hit the post with the follow up. But nine minutes from time, Chiellini headed home Pavel Nedved’s free-kick.
Earlier, 10-man AS Roma missed the chance to move into the top four as they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Udinese.
Brazilian Felipe had given Udinese the lead nine minutes into the second period, but substitute Mirko Vucinic rescued a point for Roma just past the hour mark.
The most controversial moment of the game came right at the end of the first half when Switzerland midfielder Gokhan Inler burst into the Roma box, only for France defender Philippe Mexes to clearly handle the ball. Only the referee failed to spot the infringement.
Justice seemed to be served on 54 minutes when Antonio Di Natale crossed for the unmarked Felipe to score easily with a header at the back post.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti threw Vucinic into the fray and he ran unchallenged across the Udinese box before shooting home right-footed to restore parity. Roma finished with 10 men after Daniele De Rossi got his marching orders for arguing with the referee.
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