At the Stadio San Paolo in Napoli Inter suffered their first defeat of the season this evening and, with Roma thrashing Parma 4-0 yesterday that means that Inter's lead is now reduced to just six points.
Maybe it was the spectre of the upcoming Liverpool clash that had them playing the way they did, but after a 1-1 draw in mid-week to Roma they've suddenly only got one point from two games. It was Inter's first visit to San Paolo since 2001 when they lost 2-0. Not a good omen.
The first and only goal came in the third minute of play with Lavezzi beating the offside trap from a long pass from Gargano. Cesar in the Inter goal booted clear, but the ball went to Zalayeta who lobbed it into the empty net. The crowd of course went wild.
It was nineteen minutes before Inter had a chance with Gianello saving with his legs from Suazo. At the other end, Hamsik was causing all kinds of problems with Cesar having to make good saves from him and Cannavaro after a Hamsik assist. Maicon found the side netting with a shot and then just before the break Materazzi nearly put the ball in his own net and was only saved from doing so by a balletic leap and a hand away by Cesar.
In the second half Lavezzi beat Materazzi only to fire wide and Cesar made another blinding save from Hamsik. It took until almost the seventieth minute before Inter were able to put on any kind of pressure and then Crespo spoilt it by fouling his marker. A few minutes later with Lavezzi on the counter attack the ball was passed to Gargano and Cesar kicked it off his feet and in so doing got the ball and Gargano's ankle. The referee pointed to the spot and booked Cesar who then went and made a fine save from the penalty.
Lavezzi, Hamsik and Zalayeta continued to cause all kinds of problems for Inter, but the game ended with just the one goal.
There was an interesting tussle between third placed Juventus and fourth placed Fiorentina this afternoon with the visitors Fiorentina coming out on top. Not only does that widen the gap between Fiorentina and fifth placed Milan, but it also brings Fiorentina to just a point shy of Juventus.
THIS WEEK'S RESULTS
Cagliari 2-1 Genoa
Empoli 0-2 Siena
Juventus 2-3 Fiorentina
Livorno 1-0 Catania
Milan 1-1 Lazio (Sat eve.)
Napoli 1-0 Inter (eve.)
Reggina 0-0 Palermo
Roma 4-0 Parma (Sat eve.)
Sampdoria 2-2 Torino
Udinese 2-0 Atalanta
SERIE A TABLE
Pts P W D L F A
Inter 61 26 18 7 1 50 16
Roma 55 26 16 7 3 46 24
Juventus 48 26 13 9 4 46 24
Fiorentina 47 26 13 8 5 40 25
Milan 43 26 11 10 5 38 20
Udinese 39 26 11 6 9 33 35
Sampdoria 36 26 10 6 10 34 33
Genoa 35 26 9 8 9 31 35
Palermo 35 26 9 8 9 34 40
Atalanta 34 26 8 10 8 40 40
Napoli 33 26 9 6 11 37 40
Lazio 30 26 7 9 10 29 33
Torino 28 26 4 16 6 29 32
Siena 28 26 6 10 10 30 34
Livorno 26 26 6 8 12 27 39
Parma 25 26 5 10 11 31 41
Empoli 25 26 6 7 13 21 34
Catania 24 26 5 9 12 21 32
Reggina 22 26 4 10 12 21 39
Cagliari 18 26 5 6 15 21 43
Cagliari have been penalized three points for taking unauthorised legal action against a former player for alleged defamation
