Milan, Nov 5 (DPA) A pulsating 1-1 draw between hosts Juventus and league leaders Inter Milan closed the Italian Serie A weekend at the brimming Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino.
Defending league champions Inter remain in the lead with 25 points from 11 games. Juventus are fourth with 21, one point behind AS Roma. Fiorentina are second with 23 points.
Pride bordered revenge in a classic match pitting Juventus against the team awarded the 2006 Serie A title after a corruption trial found the Turin giants guilty of match-fixing.
Juventus, who were also stripped of the 2005 title, are back in top flight after being sentenced to play in Serie B last season.
Juve pulled no punches before the capacity home crowd and controlled the game through most of the first half. However they came close to breaking the deadlock on only two occasions with Cristiano Zanetti and Alessandro del Piero.
Zanetti pounced on a loose ball in the box but saw defenders block his shot, while Del Piero’s 24th minute free kick was pushed away by Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Czech veteran Pavel Nedved appeared fully charged after a two-game suspension, but missed from the distance on three occasions as Juve dominated the midfield exchanges.
Inter’s prolific striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic seemed unable to find room for any manoeuvre at least until the 41st minute, when Brazilian Cesar set up Julio Cruz for a spurt in the area and a flawless flick past Gianluigi Buffon.
Two minutes later, a poor clearance from Nicola Legrottaglie left Ibrahimovic face to face with Buffon, but Chiellini recovered just in time to deny the Inter marksman.
The energies spent in the first half slowed down Juve’s pace after the break allowing Inter to threaten with Ibrahimovic and twice through substitute David Suazo.
Juventus were finally back on level terms after 77 minutes as a drive from Mauro Camoranesi, who had just come on, was deflected home by Walter Samuel.
The goal marked the comeback for international Camoranesi, who spent the past two months recovering from a serious injury.