Rome (AFP)

Juventus and Inter Milan, the two big favorites for the Italian league title, missed a great opportunity on Sunday to put a blow to the competition, joined at the end of the match respectively by Lazio (1-1) to Rome and by Atalanta (1-1) in Bergamo.

The 7th day of Serie A, with this double confrontation between Italian representatives in the Champions League, offered the opportunity to give credibility to the ambitions of the defending champion and the vice-champion.

On the contrary, it benefits AS Roma, provisionally third thanks to three goals from Henrik Mkhitaryan on the field of Genoa (3-1), while the leader, AC Milan, can increase its lead in case of success on the Hellas Verona Sunday evening.

Juventus has yet undoubtedly delivered its most controlled match since the debut on the bench of Andrea Pirlo, with a dominating midfielder led by Rabiot and Bentancur and a new scorer Cristiano Ronaldo (6th goal in Serie A, one goal from 'Ibrahimovic), after a nice job on the right side of the fit man Juan Cuadrado (15th).

But he missed a few seconds for this attractive Juve to contain a Lazio subscribed for the purposes of stunning matches and saved once again by Felipe Caceido at the end of added time (90 + 5th).

- Lazio "with heart" -

The Ecuadorian striker had already snatched a point this week in the Champions League against Zenit Saint Petersburg (1-1) and offered an unexpected victory to the Romans last week at Torino (4-3).

"I do not have the words ... We knew that something could happen at the end of the match, Juve had stopped playing a little," said the hero of the day, in the absence of the scorer Ciro Immobile , due to Covid-19.

"This team has heart," said coach Simone Inzaghi.

"We played like Juve for 93 minutes and 45 seconds, solid defense, a good game and no conceded opportunity ... And then we took this goal for being too light", railed the Turin defender Leonardo Bonucci.

"We are satisfied with the match, not with the result," assured Andrea Pirlo, who will regret the 2-0 balls missed by Ronaldo, who found the post (42nd) then Reina's gloves on a full-axis free kick (45 + 2e), before going out a quarter of an hour from the end due to discomfort in the right ankle.

- Lukaku not enough -

Inter, whose stated ambition is to end Juve's reign in Italy (nine consecutive titles), did not take advantage: the Milanese were also punished for not having known how to kill a match where they had took the advantage.

The goal of Lautaro Martinez from the head (58th) for Inter Milan responded that of rookie Alekseï Miranchuk (79th) for the Bergamasques.

But the "Dea" can thank its goalkeeper Marco Sportiello, decisive in quick succession against Arturo Vidal then Nicolo Barella (65th).

The duel between the two great Italian disappointments of the week in the Champions League (defeat against Real Madrid for Inter and against Liverpool for Bergamo) confirmed the difficulties of the Milanese, whose pace remains far from the objectives set (only one victory in the last eight matches).

The return from injury Romelu Lukaku, entered for a quarter of an hour at the end of the match, was not enough.

"It was rather a good match, we did not lack either character or organization against a very strong opponent," Antonio Conte wanted to positively.

The missed opportunities of the Nerazzurri and Bianconeri suit Roma, who confirmed their revival with a clear victory on the Genoa field despite the absence of their striker Edin Dzeko, positive for Covid-19.

Here are the Giallorossi third, pending the result of Naples, traveling to Bologna.

© 2020 AFP