Inter maintain title charge

Inter started the season as the Serie A's big favourites to 'retain' the championship crown they were awarded last summer following the demise of giants Juventus and Milan due to the notorious match-fixing scandal.

With a third of the season already over, Roberto Mancini's side seem well on course to reach their pre-set goal. At present, they are leading the standings with 33 points, four ahead of nearest pursuers Roma.

Inter are still undefeated after 13 matches. More importantly, they have already beaten the other potential challengers for the scudetto - Roma and Palermo - away from their Meazza stadium. This puts Inter in a very comfortable position at the top of the Serie A table after long years of under-achievement.

After a shaky start, culminated with a 1-1 home draw against modest Sampdoria on the second day, and back-to-back defeats in the Champions League to Sporting Lisbon and Bayern Munich, Inter are now playing almost to perfection.

The Nerazzurri have established themselves as the unrivalled leaders in Italy's top-flight football and also made it to the last 16 of the Champions League.

This week, Inter also stand a very good chance to make it to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia, a trophy they won in each of the past two seasons, both times at the expense of Roma in the final.

Now, as the Serie A is fast approaching its halfway stage, Inter seem to have already reached their peak. They are playing like true champions and giving the impression that they look in firm command of the situation irrespective of the adversities, mainly in the form of suspensions or injuries.

Lately, Inter had to do without the sterling services of Esteban Cambiasso, Adriano and, for some time, Olivier Dacourt. For the next month or so Julio Ricardo Cruz will also be out due to a knee injury.

But these notable absentees passed rather unnoticed, at least so far because Mancini can rely on high-calibre substitutes.

Impressive Vieira

In Frenchman Patrick Vieira, Inter seem to have finally found their master general. With his class and industry, the former Milan, Arsenal and Juventus hard-tackling midfielder has helped Inter to improve immensely in almost all sectors of the game.

Vieira occupies a pivotal role in Inter's strong midfield, almost the same which Lothar Matthaeus had for the side during his memorable stint in Milan.

In attack, the exceptional scoring form of Hernan Crespo and, to a lesser extent of Cruz and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has enabled Mancini to chart a recovery trail for Adriano - Inter's beleaguered Brazilian who has not played with a certain degree of continuity for over a year now.

Inter may not be the most spectacular team to watch in Serie A this season, but, the side played decently well in their last few outings. Their prime objective is always to get the desired result.

Inter are being deployed very similarly to Juventus during Fabio Capello's days in Turin. Many reckon that the module will surely lead Inter to winning the league title next May.

Equally important is the fact that Inter's main rivals all seem to be less equipped to survive the challenge on a stretch of 38 matches.

Take Roma for instance. Luciano Spalletti's side are playing the most entertaining and exciting football in the Serie A but serious doubts exist on whether they can go on playing like this for a long time.

Roma have enough quality to match Inter on the day but they do not possess enough strength-in-depth to keep the good results going in the Serie A and the Champions League.

Francesco Guidolin's Palermo are a valid side as well. But, as Sunday's direct encounter with Inter confirmed, they are not championship stuff.

The Sicilians stand a good chance to book a place in the Champions League next season but anything more than that will be a bonus for them.

On the other hand, Milan and Fiorentina are lagging far behind in the standings to bother the leading sides in the standings.

As Mancini has remarked in his aftermatch comments on Sunday, the road to glory is still long.

The omens, however, do look good because at the moment Inter are head and shoulders above their opponents.

Besides, the fact that Inter have won all the direct clashes up to now - a rare occurrence for the side in recent years - has undoubtedly injected a lot of confidence inside the players.

After all, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti may not be wrong in stating that only Inter can lose the scudetto this season.

Serie A statistics...

0 penalties missed last weekend in the Serie A. Francesco Flachi, back from suspension, reduced the arrears for Sampdoria in their 2-4 home defeat against high-flying Roma by converting an injury-time penalty. Jonathan Spinesi put Catania in front against troubled Parma, midway through the second half, by scoring from the spot and Victor Obinna gave relegation-threatened Chievo fresh hopes as he doubled their lead from the spot in a 2-0 home win over Udinese. Meanwhile, two players - Vincenzo Grella (Parma) and Dario Passoni (Livorno) - received marching orders from referees.

1st victory of the season for Chievo as Luigi Del Neri's side scored a goal in each half to beat Udinese for the second year running. The Verona outfit persisted in attack until they finally put an end to a 16-match winless streak (seven draws and nine defeats). For Giovanni Galeone's Udinese this was their fourth defeat in their last five outings. On Saturday, Carlo Ancelotti's Milan beat Messina and returned to winning ways after a fourth-match winless run (three straight defeats and a draw) to emerge from troubled waters. For the Sicilians this was their fourth defeat in five Serie A visits to Milan.

2 points out of the last available 12 were collected by Siena. On Sunday, they surrendered an early lead to share the spoils with Fiorentina for the first time in three Serie A meetings. Cesare Prandelli's Fiorentina extended their positive streak to three games (one win and two successive draws). Lazio continued to show signs of improvement after beating Ascoli at the Olympic Stadium for the second year running. Lazio's third successive win coincided with Ascoli's second consecutive away defeat. The last draw between these two sides was in February 1992 (1-1). Ascoli's only win in 11 Serie A visits to the capital dates back to February 10, 1980 (1-0). Nedo Sonetti's Ascoli are the only top division side with no wins after five draws and eight defeats.

3 wins for Empoli in as many home clashes with Cagliari as Gigi Cagni's side extended their positive streak to seven games to interrupt Cagliari's 10-match unbeaten run. Livorno forfeited a 2-0 half-time lead to share the spoils with Reggina at the Oreste Granillo stadium for the second season running. Had Livorno conserved their lead, it would have been their first Serie A win in Reggio Calabria.

5th win on the trot for second-placed Roma as they condemned Sampdoria to a second straight defeat, following the 0-1 reverse in Turin. Sunday's 4-2 win was Roma's seventh in 50 Serie A visits to the Luigi Ferraris stadium. In the weekend's most crunching fixture, Inter emerged winners over Palermo by the odd goal in three to open a four-point lead at the top of the standings. The upset was Palermo's second straight defeat, following the 0-1 defeat to Cagliari in Sardinia the week before. Big-spenders Inter have recently established a strong, positive record in Palermo, where they have won four times in their last five visits in Serie A matches. Roberto Mancini's side are the only top division team still undefeated whereas Palermo are still without a drawn result after 13 matches.

10 years have elapsed since Atalanta's last home success over Torino in the Serie A. On Sunday, Atalanta were beaten by back-to-form Torino at their Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium, signalling Torino's first away league victory in the top division since March 2002 (vs Verona 1-0). Torino scored two quick goals to record their second straight win after beating Sampdoria the previous weekend. This was Atalanta's first home setback of the term. In their first ever meeting in Serie A, Catania overcame lowly Parma 2-0. For Parma, this was their third straight defeat and overall their fourth winless game in a row.

28 goals were scored on the 13th day: 16 coming from the hosts and the remaining 12 from the visitors, who managed three wins. Foreign players contributed with eight goals while there were 16 first-half goals. Two players, namely, Claudio Rivalta (Atalanta) and Stefano Mauri (Lazio), committed an own goal. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 328. Victor Obinna (Chievo) and Francesco Totti (Roma) grabbed a brace each to help their respective sides cruise to significant wins over Udinese and Sampdoria. Pasquale Foggia (Lazio) and Francesco Flachi (Sampdoria) came on as substitutes and scored. Christian Riganò, of Messina, still tops the goalscorers' list with nine goals, two ahead of Amauri (Palermo), Bianchi (Reggina) and Totti. Roma possess the most prolific attack with 30 goals to their credit whereas Empoli have the best defensive record in the division, having conceded just nine goals.