Italian Serie A- Inter Milan Still the Leader Despite their draw with Roma 1-1

Inter Milan F.C, the current champs, missed a good opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the Italian Serie A League, after drawing 1-1 with AS Roma at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. This victory brings Internazionale to nine wins, two draws and a defeat to establish themselves as the leaders with 29 points. They are followed by Juventus with 24, who on Saturday beat Atlanta 5-2. AC Milan reached third place with 22 points by winning 2-1 against Lazio, while Sampdoria fell to fourth place after losing 2-0 against Cagliari, with Fiorentina, who has 21 points. The game at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium started with a great defense by Roma and good execution in the counterattack. The host team, Inter Milan, tried to control the action with aggressiveness; however, the Roman team surprised the home side as they scored in their first action and they took the lead on the scoreboard thanks to a great header from Mirko Vucinic. Vucinic beat the Brazilian defender Lucimar da Silva Lucio in the air and sent the ball directly to the back of the net at minute 13. After this surprising goal, the players led by the Portuguese coach José Mourinho tried equalize the scoring, but they lacked offensively in the first half. Inter Milan played against a Roman defense that overshadowed the attempts of the Cameroon's Samuel Eto 'o and the Argentina's Diego Milito during the opening half. As Roma kept to their game plan, the team created another option at minute 37 as the Norwegian Roma defender, John Arne Riise, unsettled Julio Cesar’s goal with a free throw shot that was well controlled by the Brazilian. Before half time, the first hint of trouble by the Internazionale team arose beforeminute 40, after Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari opened space at the right side and kicked with his left foot, which was well saved by goalkeeper Julio Sergio. With this last play, the first half ended 1-0 in favor of the visitor team. Immediately at the open of the second half, the Nerazzurri tied the game at minute 48, after a series of rebounds in the AC Roma’s area, where the ball was left to Thiago Motta, who then played with Eto'o. The Cameroons then with a turn around left-foot shot, scored for Inter and put the scoreboard 1-1. After that goal, Inter took control of the ball for the rest of the match, but to little avail; they couldn’t attack Julio Sergio’s goal successfully. The game finished with a 1-1 tie. After the match, Coach Mourihno stated he wasn’t happy with his team’s performance and the way they handled the game, but congratulated Roma’s game plan. “I like the point, as Roma had the quality to come here and win. I had the feeling it wouldn't be great for us so I put fresh legs in midfield, but even then in the first-half the performance was poor. If someone goes home tonight happy with what they achieved, it's because they have no ambition,” said Mourinho. On the other hand, Coach Claudio Ranieri said at the end of the game that he was satisfied with the team’s performance and praised the efforts of his players. “I am very happy with the team spirit and the hunger to do well, plus the standard of the football. Obviously one always wants more. We tried to go on the counter and conclude them, but every single time we were systematically hacked down,” said Coach Ranieri.