AS Roma failed to make the most of SS Lazio’s defeat as they were held 1-1 at home by relegation-threatened Atalanta BC in Serie A to move level on points with their city rivals, while Inter drew 0-0 with AC Milan in a heated derby.
Francesco Totti gave Roma the lead from the penalty spot in the third minute, but Atalanta leveled with a penalty of their own and Roma could not convert their pressure into genuine scoring opportunities.
SSC Napoli gave themselves hope of sneaking into the final UEFA Champions League place by cruising to a 3-0 win at Cagliari later to close the gap to five points.
Photo: EPA
Rafael Benitez’s side have now scored 10 goals in their past three matches.
The two Milan teams remained mired in midtable after an entertaining match which saw three goals disallowed and a strong penalty claim by Inter denied.
“It was a very clear penalty,” Inter coach Roberto Mancini said. “The referee couldn’t see it because he had a player in front of him, but the goal-line official could see it very well as he saw Palacio’s foul.”
Elsewhere, Genoa lost 2-1 at US Citta di Palermo and Torino drew 1-1 at US Sassuolo, hindering their chances of qualifying for Europe. Bottom club Parma drew 2-2 at Empoli and AC Chievo Verona drew 1-1 against Udinese.
Roma went into their game knowing they could move back into second spot with a win following Lazio’s 2-0 loss at Juventus on Saturday.
Part of the Curva Sud was closed for the match after offensive banners mocking the mother of murdered Napoli fan Ciro Esposito were displayed during the team’s previous home match. There were also protests outside the stadium against Roma president James Pallotta.
On the pitch, Roma were awarded an early penalty after Guglielmo Stendardo mistimed a sliding challenge on Adem Ljajic and blocked the ball with his arm.
Francesco Totti stepped up and fired into the bottom-left corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, to give Roma a third-minute lead.
However, Atalanta leveled 20 minutes later when Davide Astori tripped Urby Emanuelson in the area and German Denis converted in similar fashion.
Roma went close to restoring their lead 11 minutes from time when Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello could only parry Ljajic’s effort, but Giulio Migliaccio was decisive, sliding in to clear the danger as Vasilis Torosidis was about to fire into an empty net.
With AC Milan ninth and Inter 10th, the Milan derby was more about city bragging rights than title hopes as in previous years.
Mancini handed teenager Assane Gnoukouri a surprise first Serie A start and the 18-year-old impressed, playing a crucial part in Inter’s bright start.
It was end-to-end action at the San Siro as Milan slowly got into the match and the Rossoneri had a goal ruled out in the 29th minute when Nigel de Jong was offside in the buildup to Alex’s header.
Inter forward Rodrigo Palacio also had a goal disallowed shortly after halftime for an offside decision against Mauro Icardi and that seemed to encourage the Argentine as he went close shortly before the hour, beating goalkeeper Diego Lopez only to be denied by a goal-line clearance from Luca Antonelli.
Inter appealed furiously for a penalty minutes later after Antonelli appeared to use his hand to block a Hernanes shot. The incident occurred right in front of the Nerazzurri fans, who screamed loudly as the players surrounded the referee, who waved away their protests.
Inter and their fans were angered further in the 72nd minute when Philippe Mexes scored an own-goal, but it was disallowed for a Palacio shirt tug on Marco van Ginkel in the buildup, sparing the Milan defender’s blushes.
“I’m only speaking about football, I don’t want to talk about incidents, but I think the referee was good tonight,” Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi said.
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