MILAN, Feb 26: Serie A leader AC Milan and defending champion Inter Milan were held to draws by opponents in the lower half of the standings on Friday.
Italy Under-21 left back Destiny Udogie equalized with his first Italian league goal as Udinese secured a 1-1 draw at Milan – less than a week after the Rossoneri were held at last-placed Salernitana to 2-2.
Milan remained at the top of the table and are two points ahead of Inter, which was held at relegation-threatened Genoa to 0-0 to extend its winless streak to four matches.
The two Milan clubs meet in an Italian Cup derby on Tuesday.
The most Inter could produce was a header off the crossbar midway through the second half from fullback Danilo D’Ambrosio.
At the San Siro, Rafael Leao put Milan ahead near the half-hour mark from a sharp angle after taking a cross from Sandro Tonali.
Then Udogie finished from close range in the 66th following a long throw-in and an overhead effort from Roberto Pereyra. Milan protested that Udogie’s goal should have been disallowed for a handball but a VAR review confirmed the goal.
Udinese moved up to 14th place while Genoa remained next to last.
In third place is Napoli, who currently have 54 points from 26 games followed by Juventus in fourth with 47 points from the same number of matches, and Atalanta in fifth with 44 points.
All Serie A matches are starting five minutes late this weekend accompanied by a peace message following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (AP)