Inter left themselves vulnerable at the top of Serie A by drawing 1-1 away to Palermo on Saturday.
Diego Milito put Inter ahead with a penalty, but Edinson Cavani pulled Palermo level before halftime.
Inter have won just one of their last six league games, although they eliminated Chelsea from the Champions League in midweek with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Inter lead with 60 points, but are only two ahead of AC Milan, who were to play Napoli yesterday.
“We are all calm, really we are,” Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar said. “We don’t think things are as serious as they seemed today. Palermo is very organized in defense and good at winning the ball back. Also we knew that anytime we went after the second goal Palermo could hit us on the counterattack.”
AS Roma are third with 56 points after beating Udinese 4-2, with Mirko Vucinic scoring a hat-trick.
Luca Toni gave Roma the lead and Vucinic added a second before Antonio Di Natale pulled a goal back with a penalty before the break.
Di Natale scored his second to equalize, but two more goals from Vucinic handed Roma the victory.
In Palermo, Inter took the lead when Milito scored his 17th goal of the season after Cesare Bovo brought down Lucio.
Palermo equalized in the 24th when Fabio Miccoli wrongfooted Inter’s defense with a reverse pass and Cavani had time to shoot past Cesar.
“We started a bit nervously,” Palermo coach Delio Rossi said. “We were a bit tense and were thinking about the Inter side that won in London this week. I was disappointed with the space we gave Inter at the start, but I have to praise the guys for how they came back against the best team in the league.”
After half-time, both sides failed to find much spark in attack and let themselves down with poor final balls after getting into good attacking positions.
Inter coach Jose Mourinho declined to talk to the media after the match.
Outspoken Mourinho is rarely lost for words and was in jubilant mood in midweek when Inter impressively beat his former side Chelsea in the Champions League last 16.
Inter’s recent lackluster performances in Serie A have coincided with the coach’s three-game touchline ban for making a handcuffs gesture in a draw with Sampdoria and inferring Italy did not want Inter to win a fifth straight scudetto.
Toni opened the scoring for Roma with a low shot from the edge of the area in the 15th and Vucinic then found the net in the 23rd for his first of the match when he finished off a counterattack.
Udinese pulled a goal back in the 38th from the spot when Di Natale scored his 20th of the season after Matteo Brighi brought down Paolo Sammarco. The striker then equalized in the 61st, reacting quickest after Cristian Zapata mishit a shot.
Vucinic scored his second, from the penalty spot in the 66th, to put Roma back into the lead and then completed his hat-trick in the 82nd.
“They are a very good attacking combination,” Roma coach Claudio Ranieri said about Toni and Vucinic. “We are playing very well as a team and are full of running, but we need to keep this up for the rest of the season.”
In Saturday’s other match, Fiorentina beat Genoa 3-0. Mario Santana opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he backheeled in Massimo Gobbi’s cross. Alberto Gilardino made it 2-0 with a penalty midway through the second half and young striker Khouma El Babacar scored the third four minutes from time with his first ever Serie A goal.
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