ROME (AP) — Serie A leader Inter Milan conceded a late equalizer and was held 1-1 by Atalanta at home on Saturday, leaving the door open for AC Milan to further close the gap to its rival.
Francesco Esposito put Inter ahead in the 26th minute, but Nikola Krstović scored for Atalanta in the 82nd to split the points.
Inter was coming off a 1-0 loss to Milan in the league last weekend. Now it leads its crosstown nemesis by eight points before Milan visits Lazio on Sunday.
Inter has only two wins in its last seven games overall, a run that includes being eliminated from the Champions League knockout rounds playoff by Norwegian upstart Bodø/Glimt.
Inter’s Cristian Chivu was sent off in the 85th after back-to-back bookings.
Seventh-placed Atalanta showed more resilience than in the 6-1 defeat it suffered to Bayern Munich in the Champions League’s round-of-16 this week. It visits Bayern for their second leg on Wednesday.
Napoli fought back to beat Lecce 2-1 and pull to within nine points of Inter with nine games remaining.
Lecce center back Jamil Siebert put the visitors ahead in the third minute, but the defending champions got goals in the second half from Rasmus Hoejlund in the 46th and Matteo Politano in the 67th to ensure they capitalized on Inter’s stumble.
Juventus midfielder Jérémie Boga scored for a third league game in a row to help beat Udinese 1-0 and consolidate its hold on fourth place.
Boga joined the team from Turin in the winter transfer window.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
