By DPA,
Milan : Inter Milan missed a chance to celebrate their 16th Italian football title when they lost 1-2 against crosstown rivals AC Milan.
Beaten by second-half goals from Filippo Inzaghi and Kaka Sunday night, Inter saw their lead over Roma halved to three points as the Rome side won 3-0 at Sampdoria with two games left.
The Milanese derby started off at a slow pace before Milan gradually took control of the game. They missed two first-half chances through Inzaghi, who on 20 minutes burst into the area but aimed at goalkeeper Julio Cesar and later missed an easy diving header.
But the veteran striker was flawless in the 51st, nodding home a cross from Brazilian Kaka for an impressive tally of nine goals in his last five games.
Five minutes later, Kaka slotted past his compatriot custodian after Massimo Ambrosini dispossessed another Brzilian, Douglas Maicon.
A spurt from Hernan Crespo triggered Inter’s fierce reaction as coach Roberto Mancini brought on the young Mario Balotelli for a three-pronged attack.
But Inter only managed to pull one back when Julio Cruz drilled a 76th-minute free kick past Zeljko Kalac.
“In the first half they did certainly better and we created few chances,” Mancini said. “Then they scored two goals and we started to play and could have drawn. We knew it was going to be a hard game and any result was possible.”
Milan moved into fourth place, which grants a fourth available Champions League berth, leapfrogging Fiorentina, who lost 2-1 at Cagliari.
“We won and Fiorentina lost,” Kaka said. “Today we did what Inter wanted to do. Now we are close to our goal, which is to secure a Champions League berth.
“Our regret are the many points we lost at home (early in the season), but in the final part of the season we are getting a lot of satisfaction.”
Juventus remained third despite an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at Siena, a Tuscany side now certain of avoiding relegation, while Palermo beat Lazio 2-1 in a mid-table clash and lowly Torino won 2-1 over Napoli.
Reggina came off the danger zone leapfrogging Catania through a 2-1 win, Empoli are second last as Udinese beat them 1-0 and Parma remain in the three-team drop zone despite winning 1-0 at Genoa. Livorno lie at the bottom as Atalanta beat them 3-2.