Italian league: Italian stalemate

Milan: High-flying Fiorentina stayed top of Serie ‘A’ after Inter Milan spurned the chance to take over after a pulsating but scoreless draw at home to Juventus on Sunday.

 

Fiorentina have emerged as contenders for a top finish this season thanks to a series of fine performances under new coach Paulo Sousa, including a 4-1 humiliation of Inter three weeks ago.

 

But La Viola suffered only their second defeat of the campaign earlier Sunday when Lorenzo Insigne and Gonazalo Higuain hit their sixth league goals of the season respectively to secure a 2-1 win at the San Paolo stadium, where Nikola Kalinic had levelled two minutes before Higuain’s 75th minute strike.

 

The pain of that defeat was soothed by the fact Fiorentina will stay top for another week after Inter failed to break down a stubborn Juve side in the ‘Derby d’Italia’. A total of 79,154 spectators turned out to watch the 165th edition at Inter’s shared ground, producing a new all-time gate receipt of 3,740,051 euros.

 

But despite dominating a one-sided opening half that notably saw Marcelo Brozovic fire off the woodwork, Roberto Mancini’s men failed in their quest to beat Juve at the San Siro for the

first time since 2010, when Jose Mourinho led the Nerazzuri to an unprecedented treble of league, Cup and Champions League.

 

In the end, Mancini could have few complaints, especially seeing the woodwork save Inter when Sami Khedira struck it in the second half. “It was a tough game, difficult for both sides. It wasn’t easy to create chances and there weren’t so many in the end,” said Mancini.

 

“It was an important game because winning would have reinforced what we’ve achieved so far this season and pushed Juve out of the equation,” he added.