INTER MILAN MISSED a chance to keep the pressure on champions Juventus with Antonio Conte’s side held 2-2 at Roma on Sunday leaving the way clear for the Turin giants to close in on a ninth consecutive league title.

Romelu Lukaku scores the late penalty to grab a draw for Inter AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

Romelu Lukaku’s penalty two minutes from time rescued a point for Inter who are second five points behind Juventus.

Maurizio Sarri’s side can open up an eight-point lead on the top of the table when they host fourth-placed Lazio on Monday.

Stefan De Vrij had got Inter off the mark in the Stadio Olympico heading in off an Alexis Sanchez corner after 15 minutes.

But Roma captain Edin Dzeko set up Leonardo Spinazzola for the equaliser before the break and was again involved when Henrikh Mkhitaryan finished off the second on 57 minutes.

Lukaku came off the bench and scored from the spot late after Spinazzola fouled Victor Moses.

It was a stalemate which does little to help either team, and boosts Juventus’s chances of extending their record Serie A run.

Inter had been targeting a first league title since 2010, when they won the treble under Jose Mourinho.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan celebrates after scoring for Roma

The northern side are one point ahead of third-placed Atalanta with four games to play, while Roma are nine points adrift of the Champions League places.

Napoli are two points behind the Romans in sixth after Matteo Politano struck deep into injury time to snatch a 2-1 win over Udinese.

Napoli, already qualified for the Europa League thanks to their Italian Cup victory, move back ahead of AC Milan.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side are out of the running for the Champions League next season but are preparing to meet Barcelona in the second leg of their last 16 tie in this year’s edition, with both sides locked at 1-1.

“It was an important victory even if now we’re playing another sport which worries me,” said Gassuso.

“This is not football. Playing every three days and without fans is something different, the players are not robots.”

Rodrigo De Paul had put 16th-placed Udinese ahead after 22 minutes at the San Paolo Stadium before Arkadiusz Milik came off the bench to pull the hosts level nine minutes later.

Politano, on-loan from Inter Milan, blasted in the winner five minutes into injury time for his first goal for the southerners who bounced back after two consecutive draws.

- SPAL return to Serie B -

At the bottom of the table Brescia, in 19th, won 2-1 to condemn SPAL to a return to Serie B after two seasons in the top flight.

In another relegation dogfight Genoa beat Lecce 2-1 to move four points clear of the southerners who occupy the final relegation spot.

Genoa are four points behind Torino, who lost 2-0 at Fiorentina.

City rivals Sampdoria are on the brink of securing Serie A survival after staging a thrilling comeback from two goals down to win 3-2 at Parma.

Fabio Quagliarella scored one and set up Federico Bonazzoli for the winner as Claudio Ranieri’s side won a third consecutive match for the first time this season.

Ranieri, who memorably guided outsiders Leicester City to the 2016 English Premier League title, took over last October with the club sitting bottom of the table.

But they have come back strong after the coronavirus lockdown, winning five of their last six games and are 12 points above the drop zone with four games left.

Parma were two goals ahead at half-time thanks to Gervinho and an own goal from Samp goalkeeper Bartosz Bereszynski.

But Julian Chabot pulled one back with his head two minutes after the break before Fabio Quagliarella curled in his 11th of the season with 21 minutes and teed up Federico Bonazzoli for the winner with 12 minutes to go.

Sampdoria move ahead of Parma into 12th position as Roberto D’Aversa’s side, who had been targeting the Europa League places earlier this season, slump to their sixth defeat in seven games.

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