Samuel Eto’o converted a hotly-disputed penalty to earn injury-hit champions Inter a point in a disappointing 1-1 home draw with newly promoted Brescia last night.
Andrea Caracciolo had given stubborn Brescia a first-half lead but Eto’o notched his 17th goal in 16 games after he himself went down in the box.
However, TV replays showed Eto’o had fallen over after treading on the ball under pressure from Gaetano Berardi.
The draw means second-placed Inter closed the gap to leaders Lazio to three points ahead of today’s Rome derby in which the sky blues host Roma.
With a dearth of fit central midfielders, Inter coach Rafael Benitez was forced to play Wesley Sneijder in an unfamiliar defensive midfield position but he still had the first sight of goal, forcing Michele Arcari into a low save from his free-kick.
Diego Milito had a smart turn and shot on 10 minutes that sneaked just wide.
But Brescia were ahead on 14 minutes, moments after Alessandro Diamanti’s shot had been deflected wide.
Nicolas Cordova launched a diagonal ball forward and while Caracciolo’s first touch was excellent, his second wasn’t but he got a lucky break to bundle past Walter Samuel and then managed to slide in to beat Lucio to the ball and slip it under Luca Castellazzi.
Inter’s response was immediate with Eto’o flicking a header just wide, Arcari beating away a fierce Coutinho effort and an Eto’o cross glancing the bar.
Inter’s injury problems weren’t helped by Maicon picking up a hamstring problem in the first half while Samuel had to come off a few minutes after the restart following a clash of knees with Caracciolo.
And as Benitez had chosen to replace Sneijder with Joel Obi at half-time to add steel to his midfield, he was out of substitutions with 40 minutes still to play.
Inter were struggling to create chances but on 68 minutes Eto’o beat his marker only for Arcari to come out and smother his shot.
But then came Inter’s gift on 73 minutes with Eto’o slotting home to Arcari’s right.
Milito had a glorious late chance to snatch the three points after a ricochet fell kindly to him in the box deep into injury time but he blazed his effort wastefully over.
Results
Bologna 2
Di Vaio 84; Gimenez 85;
Lecce 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 13,954.
Inter 1
Eto’o 73 pen;
Brescia 1
Caracciolo 14;
HT: 0-1. Att: 45,000.
Today – 15.00
Fiorentina vs Chievo
Bari vs Milan
Juventus vs Cesena
Lazio vs Roma
Napoli vs Parma
Palermo vs Genoa - 20.45
Sampdoria vs Catania
Udinese vs Cagliari
Next Matches
Wednesday: 20.45 Brescia vs Juventus; Cagliari vs Napoli; Catania vs Udinese; Cesena vs Lazio; Chievo vs Bari; Genoa vs Bologna; Lecce vs Inter; Milan vs Palermo; Roma vs Fiorentina.
Thursday: 20.45 Parma vs Sampdoria.
Saturday: 18.00 Fiorentina vs Cesena. 20.45 Juventus vs Roma.
Sunday: 12.30 Lazio vs Napoli. 15.00 Bari vs Parma; Bologna vs Brescia; Cagliari vs Genoa; Palermo vs Catania; Sampdoria vs Chievo; Udinese vs Lecce. 20.45 Inter vs Milan.