Roberto Mancini’s return to the Inter bench after a six-year gap ended in a 1-1 draw against old rivals Milan in Serie A last night.

Napoli coach Rafael Benitez was fuming after his side squandered a 2-0 lead in a 3-3 draw with Cagliari while Torino missed their fifth consecutive penalty on their way to a 1-0 home defeat by Sassuolo.

Milan scored with their first shot on target when Jeremy Menez sidefooted the ball past Samir Handanovic on the volley in the 23rd minute.

Joel Obi levelled with a low shot from the edge of the area in the 61st minute following a poor clearance by Cristian Zapata before Stephan El Shaarawy hit the bar for Milan and Mauro Icardi for Inter in a frantic final 20 minutes.

Gonzalo Higuain, with his seventh goal in the last five league games, and Gokhan Inler put third-placed Napoli 2-0 ahead in less than half an hour but Victor Ibarbo pulled one back with some delightful footwork and Diego Farias equalised two minutes after halftime.

In an open second half, with Cagliari coach Zdenek Zeman throwing caution to the wind in his inimitable style, Jonathan De Guzman put Napoli back in front with a looping header but the Sardinians grabbed a deserved point when Farias turned in Ibarbo’s cross.

“I’m certainly not happy to see these presents after so much work.

“We had the game in our hands and we gave it away,” Benitez told reporters after his side lost ground on leading pair Juventus and Roma, who both won on Saturday.

Hapless Cesena substitute Constantin Nica came off the bench and scored an own goal with his first touch of the game as he diverted a cross into the net to gift fourth-placed Sampdoria a 1-1 draw.

The Sea Horses had taken the lead when Stefano Lucchini scrambled home against his former club from Franco Brienza’s free-kick.

Bottom club Parma, beaten 7-0 by Juventus in their previous game, went down 2-0 at home to Empoli.

Torino were jeered off after Juan Sanchez Mino saw his penalty saved by Andrea Consigli on the half hour and Antonio Floro Flores headed Sassuolo’s late winner from a corner.

Serie A

Cesena 1
Lucchini 60;
Sampdoria 1
Nica 77 og;

HT: 0-0. Att: 16,184.

Verona 1
Lopez 39;
Fiorentina 2
Rodriguez 16; Cuadrado 62;

HT: 1-1. Att: 21,553.

Parma 0
Empoli 2
Vecino 45; Tavano 57;

HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.

Milan 1
Menez 23;
Inter 1
Obi 61;

HT: 1-0. Att: 79, 173.

Napoli 3
Higuain 11; Inler 30; De Guzman 62;
Cagliari 3
Ibarbo 38; Farias 47, 67;

HT: 2-1. Att: 50,000.

Torino 0
Sassuolo 1
Floro Flores 88;

HT: 0-0. Att: 19,000.
Missed penalty: Sanchez Mino (T) 30.

Udinese 1
Di Natale 45;
Chievo 1
Radovanovic 74;

HT: 1-0. Att: 15,000.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	12	10	1	1	28	4	31
Roma	12	9	1	2	21	7	28
Napoli	12	6	4	2	23	15	22
Sampdoria	12	5	6	1	15	9	21
Genoa	11	5	4	2	15	11	19
Lazio	12	6	1	5	21	16	19
Milan	12	4	6	2	21	17	18
Udinese	12	5	3	4	15	15	18
Inter	12	4	5	3	18	15	17
Fiorentina	12	4	4	4	12	11	16
Sassuolo	12	3	6	3	11	15	15
Verona	12	3	5	4	14	20	14
Palermo	11	3	4	4	12	18	13
Empoli	12	3	4	5	14	19	13
Torino	12	3	3	6	7	13	12
Cagliari	12	2	5	5	20	20	11
Atalanta	12	2	4	6	5	13	10
Chievo	12	2	3	7	9	17	9
Cesena	12	1	5	6	9	19	8
Parma	12	2	0	10	14	30	6

Playing today
Genoa vs Palermo - 20.45

Top scorers
9 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
8 goals: Callejon (Napoli).
7 goals: Icardi (Inter), Higuain (Napoli), Di Natale (Udinese).

Next Serie A fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Sassuolo vs Verona. 20.45 Chievo vs Lazio.

Sunday: 15.00 Cesena vs Genoa; Empoli vs Atalanta; Milan vs Udinese; Palermo vs Parma. 18.00 Juventus vs Torino. 20.45 Roma vs Inter.

Monday, Dec. 1: 19.00 Cagliari vs Fiorentina. 21.00 Sampdoria vs Napoli.

Serie B
Catania vs Latina - 1-0

Lega Pro

Group A: FeralpiSalò vs Monza 1-0; S. Torres vs Sudtirol 0-1; Arezzo vs R. Vicenza 2-0; G. Erminio vs Mantova 0-2.

Group B: L’Aquila vs Savona 1-0; Pro Piacenza vs Ascoli 0-3; Pisa vs Carrarese 0-1; Pistoiese vs Pontedera 1-1.

Group C: Melfi vs Casertana 1-0; Benevento vs Lecce 1-2; V. Lamezia vs Lupa Roma 2-2; Foggia vs Matera 0-0; Martina vs Messina 2-1.