Injury-plagued Roma hold Inter Milan to home draw

Rome, Nov 9 : Roma put up with their many absences and took home an encouraging 1-1 draw that slowed the pace of Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

The reigning champions now have 29 points from 12 games, Juventus are second on 24 after a 5-2 drubbing of lowly Atalanta Saturday, and AC Milan moved to third by winning 2-1 earlier Sunday at Lazio.

Roma improved a worrisome position and lag now at mid-table on 17 points.

Montenegro's Mirko Vucinic put Roma ahead as he played as lone striker without the injured Francesco Totti. Samuel Eto'o levelled for the Italian champions early in the second half of a pulsating game at the Giuseppe Meazza.

A glaring second-minute blunder from Vucinic looked like a bad omen for Roma, as the striker broke away off a feed from Jeremy Menez but dithered before goalkeeper Julio Cesar and allowed Lucio to catch up and dispossess him.

As Inter lacked grit in midfield, Roma took the lead in the 13th minute with a majestic header from Vucinic off a long feed from Marco Motta.

This time Vucinic had the better of towering Brazilian Lucio, soaring above him to nod a drooping ball into Cesar's top right corner.

Inter's first effort on 17 minutes came from Douglas Maicon with a harmless long-range drive, followed by Diego Milito's burst into the area that goalkeeper Julio Sergio blocked with his arms stretched.

Things worsened for Roma when a head injury forced the substitution of captain Daniele De Rossi, but Norway sharpshooter John Riise had one of his smashing free kicks deflected by Inter defenders on 37 minutes.

Inter came close one minute later as a cross from Ghanaian Sulley Muntari forced a difficult deflection by Brazilian Julio Sergio.

After the break, forward Mario Balotelli and Dutchman Wesley Sneijder came on for Inter as coach Jose Mourinho looked to add stamina to his attacking schemes.

The equalizer did arrive on 48 minutes through a low shot from Cameroon Samuel Eto'o, who accurately aimed for the farthest angle from close range.

Inter were obviously not pleased with a home draw and kept up their pressure as Roma relied on counter attacks and threatened on 63 minutes when Frenchman Menez fired firmly from the distance to force Cesar's deflection.

In other Sunday action, Sampdoria had Lithuanian midfielder Marius Stankevicius dismissed on 45 minutes as they slipped to fourth after a 2-0 defeat at Cagliari.

Level with Samp are Fiorentina after snatching a late 1-0 win at Udinese through a free kick from Peruvian Juan Vargas.

Argentine Hernan Crespo scored a brace for Genoa in a 4-2 win over bottom-side Siena, and Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta hit twice as Bologna beat Palermo 3-1.

Newcomers Parma won 2-0 against Chievo, Bari beat Livorno 1-0, and Napoli and Catania drew 0-0 on Saturday.

--IANS