Rome: Lazio did cross-city rivals AS Roma a favour by holding leaders Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw at the capital's Stadio Olimpico.

It meant second-placed Roma did not lose ground on the champions following their own 1-1 draw at lowly Cagliari earlier yesterday.

The gap between the top two is pegged at four points with seven matches left but perhaps more significantly, Inter have failed to win in seven of their last nine games in all competitions.

They also twice had the woodwork to thank for escaping Rome with a valuable point. Brazilian full-back Maicon said they were happy with the point, which maintained their gap to Roma.

"We worked hard for this all the way to the end, this draw is good for us," he said. "You can't always pile the pressure on. We ve got to work hard to win our last seven games."

Inter had the lead after only 10 minutes in simple fashion as Maicon skipped down the right and crossed to the near post where Hernan Crespo flicked the ball home.

Crespo could have scored another but Marco Ballotta saved from the Argentine striker.

Lazio had chances of their own in the first period with Inter's Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar twice blocking long-range efforts from former Manchester City midfielder Ousmane Dabo.

After the break Lazio came storming back with Tommaso Rocchi beating the offside trap on 59 minutes before taking his time and side-footing the ball past Julio Cesar.
Source : PTI