Inter held by Fiorentina in Serie A

Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | Inter were utterly dominant at the San Siro on Wednesday but were unable to break down a stubborn Fiorentina defense, and the resulting 0-0 draw meant Juventus moved a step closer to their ninth consecutive Scudetto.

With Romelu Lukaku back from injury, Inter coach Antonio Conte preferred Alexis Sanchez over Lautaro Martinez to partner the Belgian, while Christian Eriksen returned to the starting line-up.

The Nerazzuri used their aggression and tempo to press high from the beginning.

Fiorentina risked an own goal just five minutes into the game, before keeper Pietro Terracciano performed a double save to deny Inter.

Lukaku almost found the net in the 18th minute, but saw his header smack the woodwork.

The home side were then forced to make change as Stefan de Vrij limped off and was replaced by Andrea Ranocchia.

Antonio Candreva volleyed in from Ashley Young’s cross straight after the break, but it was correctly flagged offside.

Sanchez went closer in the 52nd minute, but his low strike was denied by the upright.

The draw dropped Inter to third place with 73 points, with second-placed Atalanta sitting six points behind Juventus who have a game in hand, meaning the Old Lady just need one more win to secure the Serie A title with three matches remaining.

Elsewhere, Bruno Peres bagged a hat-trick as Roma surged to a 6-1 win over already-relegated SPAL.

SPAL’s Alberto Cerri wiped out Nikola Kalinic’s 9th minute opener, but Peres’s curler put the Giallorossi in charge of the first half.

Roma started the second half with Aleksandar Kolarov’s blockbuster, before Peres completed his hat-trick with strikes in the 51st and 75th minutes.

Substitute Nicolo Zaniolo completed the scoring in the dying minutes after a solo run.

Parma ended their seven-game winless run by defeating Napoli 2-1, with all three goals coming from the penalty spot.

In Wednesday’s other Serie A matches, Lecce condemned Brescia to Serie B next season with a 3-1 victory, Sampdoria suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Genoa, and Torino shared the spoils with Hellas Verona after a 1-1 draw.

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XINHUA