Lautaro Martinez scored again but Inter Milan had to be content with a share of the spoils as the Serie A leader drew 1-1 at second-place Juventus on Sunday.
Martinez’s 13th league goal of the season cancelled out Dusan Vlahovic’s opener in the Derby d’Italia.
Inter remained two points above Juventus. Third-place AC Milan is six points behind its city rival, with defending champion Napoli two points further back in fourth. Both Milan and Napoli played on Saturday.
Inter faces another tough trip next weekend when it visits Napoli.
It was a matchup in Turin between two fierce rivals occupying the top two spots. Inter was looking to move five points clear, while Juventus knew it could leapfrog into the lead.
Both sides had early chances in a match that was intense and entertaining from the start.
Juventus broke the deadlock in the 27th minute through a move started and finished by Vlahovic. The Serbia forward won the ball in midfield and then sent Federico Chiesa down the left before racing into the area to collect the ball back and steer it into the bottom right corner.
The home side’s advantage lasted just six minutes, however, before Marcus Thuram and Martinez — who have become one of European soccer’s most dangerous attacking duos — combined again for the equalizer.
Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic scored the opening goal. | Photo Credit: AP
The move began with Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer and quickly moved forward where Thuram crossed from the right and Martinez got in front of Juventus defender Federico Gatti for an angled drive into the bottom left corner.
Former Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado was brought on in the 69th minute to loud boos from the home fans and he was jeered every time he touched the ball.
Cuadrado joined Inter on a free transfer in July after eight seasons at Juventus, where he won a number of trophies including five Serie A titles.
TEAM GOAL
Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy scored late as Roma beat lowly Udinese 3-1 and closed the gap in the top four.
Roma — which had a poor start to the season — moved up to fifth, three points behind Napoli and 11 points behind Inter.
It was Udinese’s first defeat in nearly two months and left it a point above the relegation zone.
Jose Mourinho’s side took the lead in the 20th minute when Dybala floated in a free kick and Gianluca Mancini beat his marker to head the ball in across the face of the goal.
Udinese had been pushing at the start of the second half and it equalized in the 57th when Martin Payero whipped in a cross from the left for Florian Thauvin to head in at the back post.
Roma restored its advantage nine minutes from time with a great team move that it finished off when Romelu Lukaku backheeled the ball to Dybala, who drilled it into the bottom left corner.
Lukaku also had a hand in Roma’s third, in the final minute, as he controlled a long ball before laying it off to Edoardo Bove, who passed it on first time for El Shaarawy to sweep into the far bottom corner.
SEVEN-GOAL THRILLER
Domenico Berardi scored twice, including a stoppage-time winner, to help Sassuolo to a 4-3 victory at Empoli and end a six-match winless run for his team.
Sassuolo moved up to 13th, five points above the relegation zone and 18th-place Empoli, which had surprisingly won at Napoli in the previous round.
Substitute Ilario Monterisi also scored in stoppage time to send Frosinone to a 2-1 win over Genoa.
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