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Inter beats Livorno 2-0 to extend Serie A lead

INTER Milan stretched its lead to seven points at the top of the Serie A by beating Livorno 2-0 yesterday with goals from Diego Milito and Maicon.

Since Serie A started awarding three points for wins in 1994-95, Inter's lead is the largest established after 11 rounds.

"This is the result of all the great work that the guys have done every day, although there is still a long way to go," Inter coach Jose Mourinho said.

Sampdoria drew 0-0 against promoted Bari, which missed a penalty in the 90th minute and then had a goal ruled out for a questionable offside call six minutes into added time.

Inter leads with 28 points. Sampdoria joined second-place Juventus on 21 points each and AC Milan is fourth with 19.

Napoli beat Juventus 3-2 Saturday and Milan defeated Parma 2-0.

Marco Marchionni scored twice and Alberto Gilardino sealed a 3-1 win for fifth-place Fiorentina over Catania, with both sides ending with 10 men.

In the late game, Palermo and Genoa played to a 0-0 draw.

AS Roma ended a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Bologna, with Simone Perrotta scoring the winner in the 52nd minute.

Brazilian forward Adailton had put Bologna up 1-0 in the 32nd, and Mirko Vucinic equalized for Roma in the 35th minute with his first goal of the season.

"We created several scoring chances and as usual we weren't able to take advantage," Roma coach Claudio Ranieri said. "The opponents created only one chance and they scored. But we were able to turn the game around, so evidently the winds are starting to change. We certainly deserved to win."

Also, it was: Cagliari 3, Atalanta 0; Chievo Verona 1, Udinese 1; and Siena 1, Lazio 1.

Inter was struggling at Livorno until the beginning of the second half, when Mourinho inserted Samuel Eto'o alongside Milito in attack.

The move paid off almost immediately, with Milito sliding a low shot between two defenders to bring his season tally to seven goals. Maicon then took a pass from Patrick Vieira and scored easily from the center of the area to seal the victory.

"Livorno was playing with a lot of desire and aggressiveness but we changed things around in the second half and we were fortunate to score right away," Mourinho said. "We had a different tactical and mental approach."

Creative Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano rarely threatened against Bari, his hometown club and where his career began. Bari's Brazilian forward, Paulo Vitor Barreto, missed a penalty and teammate Massimo Donati had a goal disallowed in a frenetic finish.

Cassano did not appreciate whistles from Sampdoria fans during the game, and afterward he threatened to leave the club.

"I already did it at Roma and (Real) Madrid, so it wouldn't be a problem to do it here," he said.



 

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