Felipe Anderson and Mateo Kovacic exchanged goals of real quality as Inter fought back to rescue a 2-2 draw with Lazio at San Siro last night.

Inter boss Roberto Mancini glowered from the touchline after watching Felipe Anderson score his first brace in Serie A – the Lazio midfielder’s second goal arrived at the end of a wonderful run – but the hosts’ luck would change.

Kovacic halved the deficit with a stunning volley, charging the Inter team with confidence and putting Rodrigo Palacio in a position to score his first goal of the season, a goal that spared his side from defeat.

The point was enough to lift Lazio into third place heading into the winter break while Inter remain in 11th.

The first half belonged to Anderson who put his team ahead after two minutes.

The Brazilian controlled Stefan Radu’s cross before burning past Andrea Ranocchia and rifling a powerful left-footed drive past Samir Handanovic.

In the 37th minute Felipe Anderson grabbed Lazio’s second goal in sensational fashion.

Having picked the ball up in the middle of the park he danced into the box from the left wing, sending Inter’s defenders spinning before slotting a smooth finish beyond Handanovic.

But Inter fought back after the interval and Kovacic pulled one back in style.

When the ball was flicked out of the box by the Lazio defence, Inter’s Croatian playmaker stepped forward and, with perfect coordination, volleyed a lightning-bolt strike past the helpless Marchetti.

All of sudden the Nerazzurri had their tails up and with 10 minutes remaining Palacio notched the equaliser.

His first Inter goal in 225 days, while making a dramatic impact, was a straightforward one as he stabbed home D’Ambrosio’s header across the six-yard box following a Federico Bonazzoli free-kick.

Earlier, Manolo Gabbiadini grabbed the equaliser in a 2-2 home draw with Udinese.

Pedro Obiang put the hosts in front after 15 minutes but Udinese turned the match around with goals from Alex Geijo and Danilo.

Substitute Gabbiadini headed Sampdoria level on the hour.

Two goals from Polish international Kamil Glik gave struggling Torino a 2-1 home win over Genoa.

Results

Serie A

Played yesterday

Atalanta 3
Denis 40 pen, 76; Moralez 55;
Palermo 3
Rigoni 6; Vazquez 16, 47;

HT: 1-2. Att: 12,344.

Fiorentina 1
Vargas 44;
Empoli 1
Tonelli 57;

HT: 1-0. Att: 33,000.

Inter 2
Kovacic 66; Palacio 80;
Lazio 2
Anderson 2, 37;

HT: 0-2. Att: 36,344.

Sampdoria 2
Obiang 15; Gabbiadini 60;
Udinese 2
Geijo 31; Danilo 34;

HT: 1-2. Att: 19,500.
Red card: Heurtaux (U) 88.

Torino 2
Glik 53, 63;
Genoa 1
Falque 42;

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

Verona 0
Chievo 1
Paloschi 81;

HT: 0-0. Att: 22,927.

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	16	12	3	1	34	7	39
Roma	16	11	3	2	28	11	36
Lazio	16	8	3	5	28	19	27
Napoli	16	7	6	3	28	20	27
Sampdoria	16	6	9	1	22	14	27
Genoa	16	7	5	4	21	15	26
Milan	16	6	7	3	25	18	25
Fiorentina	16	6	6	4	21	13	24
Udinese	16	6	4	6	20	22	22
Palermo	16	5	7	4	22	26	22
Inter	16	5	6	5	25	23	21
Sassuolo	16	4	8	4	17	21	20
Empoli	16	3	8	5	17	22	17
Torino	16	4	5	7	12	18	17
Verona	16	4	5	7	18	27	17
Chievo	16	4	4	8	12	19	16
Atalanta	16	3	6	7	11	21	15
Cagliari	16	2	6	8	21	29	12
Cesena	16	1	6	9	13	30	9
Parma (-1)	16	2	1	13	16	36	6

Top scorers
10 goals: Tevez (Juventus)
8 goals: Callejon (Napoli), Icardi (Inter), Di Natale (Udinese),  Menez (Milan).
7 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Dybala (Palermo), Gabbiadini (Sampdoria).

Next fixtures

January 5: 20.45 Lazio vs Sampdoria.
January 6: 12.30 Udinese vs Roma. 15.00 Chievo vs Torino; Empoli vs Verona; Genoa vs Atalanta; Milan vs Sassuolo; Palermo vs Cagliari; Parma vs Fiorentina. 18.00 Cesena vs Napoli.
21.00 Juventus vs Inter.

Lega Pro

Group A: Torres vs Cremonese 3-2; Alessandria vs Renate 1-1 Arezzo vs Novara 0-0; Pavia vs Como 1-2; Bassano vs Monza 2-1.

Group B: Teramo vs Savona 4-0; Forli vs San Marino 1-0; Reggiana vs Lucchese 1-1.

Group C: Salernitana vs Messina 1-0; Ischia vs Lecce 2-1; Melfi vs Matera 1-1; Catanzaro vs Reggina 1-0; Benevento vs Cosenza 3-2; Lamezia vs Juve Stabia 1-1.