Mauro Icardi missed two great chances as his Inter Milan side was held 0-0 at AC Milan in an entertaining Serie A derby on Wednesday.
Icardi is chasing the league's top scorer award with 24 goals, including six in his past two matches, but somehow shot wide twice from close range— including one in stoppage time.
Inter remained in fourth place, the final Champions League qualifying berth. Luciano Spalletti's side has two points more than Lazio and eight more than Milan, which saw its hopes of sneaking into Europe's top club competition diminish.
The derby was originally scheduled for March 4 but was rescheduled along with the rest of that day's fixtures following the sudden death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.
Before the match, former Milan captain Franco Baresi paid tribute to former teammate Ray Wilkins, who died on Wednesday.
Baresi put a wreath down in front of the section with Milan's hardcore fans and held aloft a shirt bearing Wilkins' name. There was also a minute's applause in honor of the former England captain, who played for Milan for three years.
Milan had lost in the league to Inter earlier in the season but had beaten the Nerazzurri in the Italian Cup quarterfinals.
It was a cagey start from both teams with Inter having the better of the early opportunities but Milan went closest in the 22nd minute when Hakan Calhanoglu whipped in a free kick and Leonardo Bonucci's header was tipped off the line by Samir Handanovic at full stretch.
Patrick Cutrone scored the extra-time winner against Inter in the cup and he almost netted again against the Nerazzurri, but his effort was easily saved by Handanovic after he was sent through by a delightful backheel from Giacomo Bonaventura.
Inter thought it had taken the lead seven minutes from the break but Icardi's goal was ruled out for offside after a video review.
Inter started the second half brightly and an Ivan Perisic cross hit the top of the crossbar before the first big miss from Icardi. Antonio Candreva's cross found the Argentina forward unmarked, five yards out from an empty goal, but he somehow managed to sidefoot the ball wide.
Cutrone almost scored a Cristiano Ronaldo-esque goal in the 68th but his overheard kick was ruled out for offside.
Icardi should have won the match for Inter in stoppage time but he prodded the ball wide of an empty net again, from two yards out, although he was sliding in and at full stretch.
Benevento 3 - 0 Verona
Benevento earned a shock 3-0 victory in this bottom of the table battle with Verona, but it might be too late to save them.
The fixture was rescheduled from March 4 following the sudden death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.
This was a massive relegation showdown between the bottom two, although the hosts were already essentially doomed to the drop. Curiously, both sides had their first choice goalkeepers – Christian Puggioni and Nicolas – suspended, along with Fabio Lucioni and Mohamed Fares. Luca Antei, Ledian Memushaj, Thomas Heurtaux and Moise Kean were on the treatment table, but Alessio Cerci had his first start of 2018.
Both teams were promoted from Serie B last summer and when they met last term this fixture ended 2-0 for Le Streghe.
Del Pinto’s curler from the edge of the box was fingertipped over the bar by Marco Silvestri, a former Leeds United goalkeeper making his first Serie A appearance since 2014, then Djuricic stung his gloves at the near post.
Gaetano Letizia opened the scoring with a stunning strike, running forward to curl a ferocious effort from distance into the far top corner. It was his first goal since finding the net in the Serie B promotion play-off semi-final against Carpi in May 2017.
Bruno Petkovic came off the bench at half-time and hit the back of the net straight away with a spectacular volley, but only after Cerci had already been flagged offside.
Cheick Diabate should’ve doubled Benevento’s lead on two different occasions, but fired straight at Silvestri from point-blank range, while Brignola hit a fresh-air shot from 12 yards.
Silvestri flew to beat away another Letizia strike from a corner, then denied two powerful Pietro Iemmello efforts from the edge of the box too.
The former Leeds goalkeeper was finally beaten and Benevento doubled their lead. A corner found Diabate, whose header cannoned off the crossbar and into the path of Iemmello. However, it looked as if Diabate’s attempt had already crossed the line before reaching Iemmello.
Verona were simply never in the game and Diabate completed his brace by finishing off a good team move, meeting a low Enrico Brignola cross from the right.
Chievo 1 - 1 Sassuolo
Sassuolo ended the game with nine men at the Bentegodi, but still snatched a last-gasp and fully-deserved equaliser against Chievo.
This fixture was postponed from March 4 following the sudden death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.
These teams were more accustomed to challenging for mid-table positions than relegation, but were struggling more than expected this season. Nenad Tomovic sat out a ban for the Flying Donkeys, with Dario Dainelli, Samuel Bastien and Jaroszynski injured, but they ended a run of three consecutive defeats by beating Sampdoria 2-1 at the weekend. The Neroverdi were unbeaten in three, including last week’s 1-1 draw with Scudetto-chasing Napoli.
Khouma Babacar ballooned a great opportunity over the bar in the opening minutes, but Sassuolo went down to 10 men after Claud Adjapong’s rush of blood to the head. He tried to pounce on a poor back-pass, but went sliding in studs-up and it’s fortunate goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino wasn’t seriously hurt. At first the referee had awarded a yellow card, but after viewing it again on VAR opted for the red.
Marius Stepinski volleyed over the bar from a Hetemaj cross and 10-man Sassuolo were awarded a penalty, but the official relied on VAR to judge the Pol Lirola cross had struck Alessandro Gamberini on the shoulder rather than the arm.
Chievo finally found the breakthrough when Fabrizio Cacciatore’s cross from the right took a deflection, was allowed to bounce in the box and Emanuele Giaccherini hit the half-volley at the back stick.
To make matters worse, Sassuolo went down to nine men, as Francesco Magnanelli hauled back Sergio Pellissier on the counter for his second bookable offence.
Nonetheless, Antonino Ragusa still skimmed the upright to go very close to an equaliser.
It arrived in stoppages, as nine-man Sassuolo saw Francesco Cassata’s long range free kick go past everyone to bounce in at the far bottom corner past a stunned Sorrentino.
Torino 4 - 1 Crotone
Andrea Belotti and Torino have found their confidence again, as his hat-trick sent Crotone sliding towards relegation.
This fixture was postponed from March 4 after the sudden death of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori.
The Granata saw their dismal run of four consecutive defeats come to an end with Sunday’s 4-0 victory in Cagliari, though by this stage European hopes had already evaporated. Crotone, on the other hand, were still in deep crisis and with the very real risk of relegation. Walter Zenga went into this game without suspended Marco Capuano, Rolando Mandragora and Adrian Stoian, plus injured Stefan Simic, Andrea Nalini and Ante Budimir.
Andrea Belotti’s first attempt from an Adem Ljajic corner was well parried from point-blank range, but Alex Cordaz could do nothing on the rebound.
Iago Falque added a second soon after, as the Crotone defenders kept backing off and he was able to drill home from the edge of the penalty area.
It was one-way traffic and Belotti completed his brace with relative ease, peeling away from his marker to volley in another Ljajic free kick with the inside of the boot.
Crotone were unlucky when their best chance of the game rattled the woodwork, as Simy rose above the crowd on a Daniel Pavlovic corner only to nod on to the crossbar.
Belotti completed his hat-trick when Crotone were caught in possession, so Iago Falque combined with Il Gallo for the precise angled drive into the far bottom corner.
The Calabrese club thought they’d got one back, but Mario Sampirisi was offside when flicking in a corner from a yard.
There was terrible luck for Torino debutant Buongiorno, as a few minutes after coming off the bench for his first Serie A game, he fell heavily on to his arm and had to be helped off the field.
Marco Davide Faraoni did get a consolation goal in the final minute, as Nicolas Burdisso’s fresh-air clearance let the Marco Tumminello cross through.