A first-half brace from Felipe Anderson was all SS Lazio needed to secure third place in Serie A prior to the festive break and scrape a point from a hard-fought 2-2 draw away to Inter on Sunday.
Inter only claimed their maiden win under Roberto Mancini — their first in six games — last week and had the worst possible start at the San Siro, where Anderson hit his first goal after just two minutes.
Anderson, who broke his Serie A duck last week, beat Samir Handanovic with a fine strike after collecting Stefan Radu’s assist in the box.
Photo: EPA
The Brazilian almost had his brace moments later when he sprung the offside trap to fire over, but made amends minutes before halftime after collecting on the halfway line and carrying the ball all the way before beating Handanovic at the near post.
Inter emerged doubly determined after the break, and after Mateo Kovacic and Mauro Icardi tested Federico Marchetti in the Lazio goal, it was the former who reduced arrears in spectacular fashion.
Kovacic was just outside the box when a headed clearance fell kindly for the Croatian, who struck on the volley to see his shot sting the palms of a flailing Marchetti before hitting the back of the net.
Photo: EPA
Mancini replaced Colombian Fredy Guarin with Federico Bonazzoli and two minutes later the highly-rated Inter youth player had a hand in Inter’s 80th-minute leveler.
Bonazzoli’s free-kick found the head of Danilo D’Ambrosio in the box and after the ball rolled onto the path of Rodrigo Palacio, the Argentinian blasted past Marchetti.
The draw left Inter in 11th place, 18 points adrift of leaders and champions Juventus, four behind city rivals AC Milan and six behind Lazio in the third and final UEFA Champions League qualifying spot.
Mancini warned that he will expect improvements when Inter resume after the festive break.
“We can’t become a team like Barcelona or Bayern [Munich] in the space of a month. We’re having a few difficulties but we need to get over them,” Mancini said.
The draw was one of six in the final weekend of the year, which left Juventus top of the pile with a three-point lead on AS Roma, who lead Lazio by nine points.
Earlier on Sunday, Italy striker Manolo Gabbiadini confirmed he could quit UC Sampdoria in next month’s transfer window after heading a late equalizer to share the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Udinese.
Gabbiadini has been linked with a move to SSC Napoli and the acclaimed 23-year-old told Sky Sport after the game: “I don’t know if this will be my last goal in a Sampdoria shirt, I always honor the shirt that I’m wearing.”
Sampdoria are 12 points behind Juventus, who were to face Napoli in the Italian Super Coppa final in Doha yesterday.
Elsewhere in Serie A, Alberto Paloschi struck late to secure the points as AC Chievo Verona beat Hellas Verona 1-0 in the city derby to give the Mussi Volanti some breathing space in the battle for relegation, while Torino had defender Kamil Glik to thank for a brace a precious 2-1 home win over Genoa.
Meanwhile, German Denis struck a brace, as Atalanta BC fought back to claim a point from a 3-3 draw with US Citta di Palermo, while ACF Fiorentina drew visiting Empoli 1-1.
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