Inter surge into pole position
Saturday night’s match at the San Siro between Milan and Juventus ended all-square, a result that suited neither side. Juve are now five points adrift of Inter, and in third place, while the Rossoneri are 13 points behind the leaders.
The two goalkeepers, Gianluigi Buffon and Nelson Dida, were the star performers.
David Trezeguet might have won the game for Juve, but his shot hit the post. Milan had a goal disallowed and also claimed they should have had a penalty for a tug on Alberto Gilardino’s shorts.
Juventus ended the stronger side — hardly surprising as they did not play in midweek — and remain serious title contenders partly because they have no European matches to distract them.
From Milan’s point of view, it was far from ideal preparation for tomorrow’s game against Celtic.
Without Ronaldo — injured in his first game back — and with Kaka only a sporadic threat, Milan again failed to score in front of their own fans. Of their 20 goals in the league this season, just three have been at home, where they have yet to win.
They also face a fixture pile-up. Already one match behind after their game with Atalanta was abandoned because of crowd violence, they are almost certain to have another match postponed because of their trip to Tokyo for the World Club Championship later this month.
They also have a Coppa Italia cup tie to play against Catania on the eve of a crunch game two days before Christmas — against Inter.
Inter’s 2-0 away win at Fiorentina yesterday showed exactly why they are many people’s favourites for the Champions League as well as the Italian title.
Despite the absence of Luis Figo and Patrick Vieira, and a further injury to Olivier Dacourt who was carried off after 20 minutes, Inter’s midfield was still much too strong for their opponents, with their Brazilian defenders, Maicon and Maxwell, adding power and skill to the attack.
It was a sluggish performance from the home side, and they could easily have lost by more than two goals.
The Fiorentina team applauded their opponents off at the end — a gesture that the club has adopted from rugby as part of its programme to encourage sportsmanship from players and fans alike.
Roma remain in contention after their 2-1 win against fourth-placed Udinese, who have a habit of upsetting the bigger sides.
The match was billed as The Return of Francesco Totti, but he stayed on the bench as goals from two more of Serie A’s Brazilian contingent — Juan and Rodrigo Taddei — secured the victory. Red cards for two Udinese players snuffed out any chance of a comeback.
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