Lazio leapfrog Chievo into second

Romans win 1-0 to draw level on points with Inter at the top of Serie A as promoted Brescia miss chance to hit summit.

Hernanes
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Two gentlemen of Verona: Lazio’s Hernanes, right, competes with Simone Bentivoglio [GALLO/GETTY]

Inter Milan stayed top of Serie A despite their defeat at Roma when most of the chasing pack lost their matches the following day.

Promoted Brescia could have surged to the summit but lost 2-1 at Bari on Sunday while Mauro Zarate’s second-half goal gave Lazio a 1-0 win at Chievo to end the home side’s hopes of top spot and lift the Romans level on points with champions Inter.

Cesena, in the top flight for the first time since 1991, had the chance to equal Inter on 10 points from five games in the early match but lost 4-1 at home to Napoli despite taking the lead.

Inter lost 1-0 at Roma in Saturday’s juicy clash but stay ahead of Lazio on goal difference with wayward Juventus unable to threaten the top positions even if they beat Cagliari in Sunday’s late match in Turin.

Contrasting fortunes

Much of the weekend talk centred on contrasting fortunes on Saturday for the two Milan clubs as Rafa Benitez’s champions and Champions League holders Inter slumped to a stoppage time header from Mirko Vucinic who gave Roma their first win of the season in dramatic fashion.

Results & fixtures

Saturday September 25

undefined AC Milan 1-0 Genoa 
undefined Roma 1-0 Inter Milan

Sunday September 26

undefined Cesena 1-4 Napoli
undefined Bari 2-1 Brescia
undefined Catania 1-1 Bologna
undefined Chievo 0-1 Lazio
undefined Fiorentina 2-0 Parma
undefined Palermo 2-2 Lecce
undefined Sampdoria 0-0 Udinese
undefined Juventus v Cagliari

“It can happen that you concede a late goal but we just didn’t play with enough intensity,” said Benitez.

Inter defender Maicon added: “Three points were there for the taking but the way we played we didn’t deserve one.”

Not everyone in the Roma camp was happy as skipper Francesco Totti was visibly angered at giving way to Vucinic and left the ground early.

Coach Claudio Ranieri preferred to gloss over that fact in saying: “Totti fought like a lion out there. Totti will see that the essential thing was to beat Inter. We are now on the right road,” said the former Chelsea boss.

AC Milan meanwhile moved to within two points of the top after new arrival from Barcelona and former Inter favourite Zlatan Ibrahimovic settled Saturday’s game at the San Siro against Genoa with a delightful 49th-minute chip, following on from his goal in Wednesday’s draw at Lazio.

In other Sunday action, Fiorentina won 2-0 against Parma to win for the first time in the league this season while Udinese managed their first point of the campaign with a goalless draw at Sampdoria but remain bottom.

This weekend’s Serie A action took place after Italian professional footballers union AIC postponed a strike called over a contract wrangle.

Source: News Agencies