Juventus beat Roma to move to fifth

Inter needed an injury-time goal from Ivan Cordoba to beat last-place Reggina 3-2 in the Serie A yesterday.

Cordoba shot from close range in a crowded area at the end of the second half to propel Inter into first place – a point ahead of Udinese and Napoli who play their matches today.

"No game is a given," Cordoba said. "We suffered and could have managed the game better after going up

2-0, but we let our guard down. What was important was to get these three points."

After two straight 0-0 draws, Inter moved ahead through Maicon in the 9th and Patrick Vieira in the 24th. Maicon converted a precision pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic while Vieira – who had not played in a month – took a pass from Ricardo Quaresma and threaded the ball between the legs of Reggina goalkeeper Andrea Campagnolo.

Francesco Cozza got one back for Reggina shortly before halftime and Franco Brienza equalised for the home team in the 53rd.

Inter have 21 points. Udinese and Napoli have 20 and Milan follow with 19.

In the other match, Juventus maintained their recent impressive run as they registered a good 2-0 win over Roma to move into fifth position in the standings on 18 points, three behind Inter.

After suffering some Roma pressure, during which Spalletti’s side also hit the post, it was Del Piero who paved the way for their victory with a splendid goal from a freekick on 38 minutes. Marchionni added a second goal for good measure soon after the start of the second half.