A superb equaliser from Arturo Vidal earned Juventus a 1-1 draw at Inter in an intriguing Derby of Italy clash yesterday.
Goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon sent Napoli top of Serie A after they beat Atalanta 2-0 last night while an injury-time Mario Balotelli penalty helped Milan come from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Torino.
Napoli maintained their 100 percent record to move to nine points, while Inter and Juve are two points behind and Milan are in sixth place with four.
Walter Mazzarri’s Inter took the lead on 73 minutes through Mauro Icardi’s first goal for the club following fine work from Ricky Alvarez.
But the away side equalised two minutes later when Vidal expertly controlled Kwadwo Asamoah’s drilled cross before clipping past Inter keeper Samir Handanovic for his third goal in as many games.
It was the Slovenian stopper who preserved a point for Inter with three minutes left when he got down well to Vidal’s close-range header, before Mauricio Isla sliced embarrassingly wide from the rebound.
Juventus will be happier with the draw after a sluggish second-half display.
“I think this match shows that Inter are going to compete at the top of the league this season, and that they’re going to be hard to beat,” said Antonio Conte, who was managing his 100th Juventus match.
Inter do not have any European distractions this season but Mazzari refused to say whether he thought his side could make a title tilt.
“We’ve done a lot in little time. I don’t want to make predictions because we’re a developing side which is basically starting from zero,” said the Inter boss.
“We have to keep going and then we’ll see. However these boys are surpassing my expectations.”
At the San Paolo, Argentine Higuain’s second goal of the season came on 70 minutes in Napoli’s tense match with Atalanta, in which Rafael Benitez’s side struggled to break down the away side and had a flying Pepe Reina save to thank for not going behind to German Denis’ long-range effort two minutes after the break.
The hosts started quickly, but after Goran Pandev failed to convert an easy looking chance in the 13th minute they laboured and it took until the introduction of Callejon and Marek Hamsik midway through the second half for Napoli to take charge.
Hamsik’s aggressive pressing led to the opening goal, with the ball falling to former Real Madrid striker Higuain who rolled home a calm finish.
Callejon sealed the three points 11 minutes later with his third goal in as many games, a similarly composed strike following a neat assist from Lorenzo Insigne.
Milan looked down and out 71 minutes into their clash with Torino, after two superb goals from Danilo D’Ambrosio and Alessio Cerci.
A bizarre Sulley Muntari goal three minutes from time, in which the midfielder scuffed a shot past out-of-position Torino keeper Daniele Padelli, gave Milan hope.
As Milan players celebrated no-one appeared sure if the goal had even been awarded, with Balotelli both looking offside and having fouled Padelli in the build-up to the goal.
Balotelli then earned Milan a point deep into stoppage time when he scored from the spot after Andrea Poli was crudely upended in the area.
Results
Serie A
Played yesterday
Inter 1
Icardi 73;
Juventus 1
Vidal 75;
HT: 0-0. Att: 83,000.
Napoli 2
Higuain 71; Callejon 81;
Atalanta 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 40,000.
Red card: Cigarini (A) 74.
Torino 2
D’Ambrosio 47; Cerci 71;
Milan 2
Muntari 87; Balotelli 90 pen;
HT: 0-0. Att: 15,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Napoli | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 9 |
| Inter | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Juventus | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| Roma | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Fiorentina | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| Milan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Torino | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Livorno | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Udinese | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Cagliari | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Lazio | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Verona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Sampdoria | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Chievo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Parma | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Bologna | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Catania | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Genoa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Sassuolo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
Playing today (15.00)
Fiorentina vs Cagliari - 12.30
Lazio vs Chievo
Livorno vs Catania
Sampdoria vs Genoa - 20.45
Udinese vs Bologna
Verona vs Sassuolo
Tomorrow
Parma vs Roma - 20.45
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Cagliari vs Sampdoria; Chievo vs Udinese; 20.45 Genoa vs Livorno.
Sunday: 12.30 Sassuolo vs Inter; 15.00 Bologna vs Torino; Catania vs Parma; Juventus vs Verona; Roma vs Lazio. 20.45 Milan vs Napoli.
Serie B
Bari 1 - Modena 0
Carpi 0 - Empoli 2
Cittadella 0 - Latina 0
Crotone 1 - Spezia 0
Juve Stabia 2 - Siena 2
Lanciano 1 - Avellino 0
Novara 1 - Padova 0
Trapani 4 - Reggina 0
Varese 3 - Pescara 2
Playing tomorrow
Ternana vs Brescia - 20.30
Standings: Empoli 10; Trapani, Lanciano 8; Palermo, Varese, Novara, Avellino 7; Cesena 6; Pescara, Modena, Reggina 5; Ternana, Siena (-3), Crotone 4; Brescia, Carpi, Cittadella 3; Bari (-3), Latina 2; Juve Stabia 1; Padova 0.