Inter's winning run ends

Serie A Round-up: Inter Milan's record 17-match winning streak in Serie A came to an end last night when they were held 1-1 by Udinese.

Trailing to an early second-half goal by visiting midfielder Christian Obodo, Inter hit back through striker Hernan Crespo in the 66th minute.

But Inter could not find the winner against Udinese, who were also the last side to take points off the leaders when they held them to a 0-0 draw in late October.

Inter have 67 points from 25 matches, 14 ahead of second-placed AS Roma, who drew 2-2 with relegation-threatened Chievo Verona.

Roma risked losing more ground on Inter as they were trailing to goals by Erjon Bogdani and Franco Semioli but Roma clawed level thanks to captain Francesco Totti, who scored each side of half-time to give his side 53 points from 25 matches.

AC Milan's drive for a Champions League place also suffered a setback. They drew 0-0 at third-placed Palermo (45 points) to slip back to sixth on 37 points.

The draw left Milan three points behind the fourth and final Champions League berth occupied by Lazio, who came from behind to beat Catania 3-1 with goals by Goran Pandev, Sebastiano Siviglia and Tommaso Rocchi.

Empoli moved above Milan to fifth on 38 points after beating Messina 3-1. Fiorentina had won their previous four matches, but were on course for defeat after Pasquale Foggia's shot took a deflection off defender Manuel Pasqual to put Reggina ahead in the 57th minute. Salvatore Aronica's handball three minutes from the end, however, gave Adrian Mutu the chance to fire home an equaliser from the penalty spot.

A goal by Fabio Bazzani and a penalty converted by Sergio Volpi, both in the final 20 minutes, saw Sampdoria overcome Atalanta 2-1 and move to seventh, their highest position this season.

The dogfight between the division's bottom two teams, Ascoli and Parma ended in a 0-0 draw.