ITALIAN SERIE A:A LUCA Toni goal gave AS Roma a thrilling 2-1 home win over Inter Milan on Saturday that took them within a point of the leaders and kept the three-way title race wide open approaching the final stretch.
The striker controlled a mis-hit Rodrigo Taddei shot and fired home in the 72nd minute as the hosts continued their remarkable recovery from the disarray they found themselves in at the start of the season.
Inter’s Diego Milito had equalised just six minutes earlier with a goal that looked offside, after Roma’s Daniele De Rossi opened the scoring in the 17th by capitalising on a blunder by goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Champions Inter, who host CSKA Moscow in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday, hit the woodwork three times, the last occasion from Milito deep in stoppage time.
“This is a great, beautiful night,” Toni said. “We’ve been chasing for a while. It was important to win tonight to try to realise a dream. Now we’re a point away we’ll see what happens.”
Inter coach Jose Mourinho did not speak to reporters after the match, continuing a month-long media boycott before and after Serie A games.
AC Milan wasted the latest in a series of chances to boost their title hopes when a depleted side were held 1-1 at home by Lazio yesterday.
Marco Borriello converted from the spot on 18 minutes but Stephan Lichtsteiner scrambled in the equaliser on 32 minutes.
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