Sports

Inter fail to go top after being held by Juve at home

Hard-fought Derby d’Italia ends in 0-0 draw in front of record attendance

Afp October 19, 2015

Juventus and Inter have both struggled for goals this season, meaning the 0-0 draw was the likeliest result on the cards. PHOTO: AFP

MILAN: Inter Milan spurned the chance to take command of Italy’s top flight after a pulsating scoreless draw with Juventus that set a new Serie A gate receipt record at a sold out San Siro on Sunday.

The ‘Derby d’Italia’ is one of the most popular fixtures in Italy and 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.

Roberto Mancini’s highflyers hosted the four-time consecutive Serie A champions looking for their first home win in the derby since 2010. A home win would also have pushed Juve 11 points adrift of Inter and even further away from successfully defending their title.

Italian Serie A: Higuain on target as Napoli edge Fiorentina

In the end, the hosts were forced to settle for a share of the spoils, leaving Fiorentina, despite their 2-1 defeat to Napoli earlier Sunday, top of the pile with a one-point cushion on Roma.

“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 further out of the equation. But we have to settle for a draw. It was the fair result.”

Inter remain third, on 17 points, with Napoli, Sassuolo and Lazio all two points adrift.

Juventus end win drought in Serie A

Juventus, eight points behind Inter overnight amid what has been a terrible start to the season, now have nine points from eight games and sit 10 points adrift of Fiorentina.

“I don’t know if we will win the league title this season but we’ll be in the mix,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. “Right now, we can’t pay too much attention to results but by Christmas I want us to halve our deficit and by March want us to be close to the top of the league. To do that we need consistency and more goals. A team that doesn’t score won’t win the league title.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.