Ventola strikes

Inter Milan yesterday came from a goal down to beat Empoli 2-1 as Nicola Ventola made up for absent stars Ronaldo and Roberto Baggio.

Inter's top strikers have both been hit by knee injuries and their teammates made a bad start in the 13th minute when Marco Car parelli's low shot beat goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca. The match changed in the 25th when Empoli defender Daniele Baldini was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Inter skipper Giuseppe Bergomi headed in an equaliser from Francesco Moriero's cross a minute later and in the 37th minute 20-year-old Ventola drove home an angled shot.

Empoli's plight worsened in the 84th minute when goalkeeper Matteo Sereni was sent off. Empoli had already used up all their substitutes, so midfielder Pier Paolo Busoli went between the posts.

Lazio scored their third consecutive draw after finishing 2-2 with Perugia in a match marred by brawling fans. Tear gas was lobbed in the area holding 4,000 visiting Lazio supporters, forcing the referee to suspend the end of the first-half for four minutes.

The start of the second half was delayed by 10 minutes as tear gas wafted in from outside the stadium, where it was being used by police to break up further clashes.

The match started with a dream debut for Perugia's Cristiano Bucchi, plucked from the wilderness of amateur football over the summer. The 20-year-old headed them into a fourth minute lead.

Fernando Couto soon levelled, but the turning point looked to have come midway through the second half when Japanese playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata put Perugia back in front and Lazio had Roberto Mancini sent off.

But Nakata's third goal in Serie A was cancelled out eight minutes later as Lazio's Yugoslav free-kick specialist Sinisa Mihajlovic cracked the ball home.

Both sides finished with 10 men after Perugia's Renato Olive was booked for a second time in the 74th minute.

Cagliari's Sierra Leone striker Mohamed Kallon scored two goals as Cagliari romped to a 5-0 victory over Sampdoria.

Fiorentina are top of the Serie A table with a maximum nine points from three games after Saturday's 3-1 win over AC Milan. Parma beat Juventus 1-0.

In Spain, Real Madrid remain on top after a 3-2 win at Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 4-1.

Barcelona continued their faltering start with their third draw in four matches, needing two goals from Dutch star Patrick Kluivert to salvage a point at the Nou Camp against Celta Vigo.

Kluivert twice had Barca ahead but Michel Salgado equalised the first and Alexander Mostovoi levelled at 2-2 in the final seconds.