Rome (AFP)

The draw on Sunday between Roma and Inter Milan (2-2) made the business of AC Milan, leader with now three points ahead of the Nerazzurri, but also of Juventus, back to one point of the podium by beating Sassuolo (3-1) in the evening.

Bad week for Inter: after the surprise defeat against Sampdoria (2-1) on Wednesday, the draw conceded at the end of the match at the Olimpico stadium for the 17th day broke the momentum of the end of 2020 and put the Nerazzurri under pressure before receiving a revived Juve next week.

Led at the break, Inter nevertheless thought they had done the most difficult after having equalized and then taken the advantage thanks to Milan Skriniar from a corner (56th) and Achraf Hakimi with a marvel of striking under the bar (63rd).

But their end of the match "small arm" was sanctioned by a deserved equalizer signed Gianluca Mancini (86th).

"At the end of the match, sometimes there is a certain fear of an important result that prompts you to play lower. From the bench, we continued to ask to keep the pressure on," commented Antonio Conte.

- Juve is suffering -

Roma preserve their third place six points behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his teammates, who are the big winners of this draw between two immediate pursuers after their success on Saturday over Torino (2-0).

AS Rome confirmed against Inter the strength of its team, compact in the first period and surgical against to open the scoring on his first opportunity, by Lorenzo Pellegrini (17th).

But it remains handicapped by a few regular air holes against the big cars, like this time at the start of the second half, as its trainer Paulo Fonseca regretted.

The Giallorossi are still waiting for a convincing victory against a direct opponent to confirm their ambitions to return to the Champions League next season.

They will have a new opportunity on Friday with the derby against Lazio, which logically won for its part in Parma (2-0).

Roma see Juventus swoop down on them, who followed with a third victory in three matches in 2021. But the Bianconeri suffered against a beautiful team of Sassuolo who, reduced to ten, have long believed they could bring back a point from Turin before giving in in the last ten minutes.

- Naples bounces back -

Outnumbered throughout the second period after the exclusion of midfielder Pedro Obiang (45 + 2nd) for a tight tackle on Federico Chiesa's left ankle, the Neroverdi offered themselves the luxury of scoring by Grégoire Delfrel (58th ), just after the opening of the Turin score of Danilo (51st).

But they had to surrender on a recovery of Aaron Ramsey (82nd) ​​then in added time on a final acceleration of Cristiano Ronaldo (90 + 2nd), his 15th goal this season in Serie A.

"We mismanaged our advantage but the important thing was to win, even if a little messy," said Turin coach Andrea Pirlo.

An evening of suffering for Juve who lost to injury two fit men, Weston McKennie (replaced in the 19th) and Paulo Dybala (released in the 43rd after a shock to the left knee).

But she can be happy to have found Alvaro Morata, recovered from his thigh injury.

Napoli (5th), which counts like Juve (4th) and Atalanta Bergamo (6th) one game less, also remains in contact.

After their misstep at home against La Spezia (1-2), Napoli relaunched on the ground of Udinese (2-1).

A victory snatched in the 90th minute thanks to Tiémoué Bakayoko's first goal of the season.

"We are a living team. We suffered, but we managed to recover what we had lost a few days ago," Neapolitan coach Gennaro Gattuso said.

Results of the 17th day:

Saturday January 9

Benevento - Atalanta Bergamo 1 - 4

Genoa - Bologna 2 - 0

AC Milan - Torino 2 - 0

Sunday January 10

AS Rome - Inter Milan 2 - 2

Udinese - Naples 1 - 2

Hellas Verona - Crotone 2 - 1

Parma - Lazio Rome 0 - 2

Fiorentina - Cagliari 1 - 0

Juventus Turin - Sassuolo 3 - 1

Monday January 11

(7.45 p.m.) Spezia - Sampdoria Genoa

© 2021 AFP