Inter Milan have vowed there will be no letting up in their relentless pursuit of the title, despite moving out of sight of their nearest rivals with Sunday's 3-1 win over Fiorentina. The victory enabled Roberto Mancini's side to extend the Serie A consecutive-wins record to 13 games and stretch their advantage over second-placed AS Roma to 11 points. With such a big lead, the only danger now is that Inter could throw the title away.
So Mancini is keen to ward off overconfidence and complacency. "I'm happy with the victory and I will be even happier if we continue to win and do well, and keep the level of tension high," he said. His players struck the same note.
Italy defender Marco Materazzi threatened to "strangle" any team-mates who relaxed. He said the memory of May 5, 2002, when Inter fluffed the title on the last day of the season, was "still sore".
Dejan Stankovic said that the only opponent he is afraid of was "Inter itself". "We mustn't stop running and fighting, and we must never be too sure of ourselves," added the Serb midfielder, who scored his side's first goal Sunday, cancelling out Luca Toni's opener for Fiorentina (15th). The other two goals were netted by Brazil star Adriano and Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. On Monday Inter's Technical Director Marco Branca stressed that there is still a long way to go until the end of the season.
"We are having a great championship, but we know that an 11-point lead isn't so much," said Branca. "A difficult spell can always crop up, so we will have to be careful because 11 points can be eaten up in three matches." But Italian bookies said Monday they will no longer take bets on Inter for the title. Inter's nearest rivals Roma were held 1-1 at Livorno (12th), their second draw in two weeks.
What's more, captain Francesco Totti was sent off for retaliation late in the game.
Totti, who hit his 13th goal of the season Sunday and leads the Serie A top-scorer standings, now risks being suspended for the showdown with Inter in two weeks' time.
Lazio (5th) and Milan (9th) battled out a dull goalless draw on Sunday evening, and third-placed Palermo's visit to Reggina (19th) on Saturday night ended 0-0 too. Empoli climbed up to fourth place with a 2-0 victory over Sampdoria on Sunday afternoon. Young striker Giuseppe Rossi boosted struggling Parma (18th) with a scoring debut in the 1-0 over Torino (14th). As well as hitting the winner, the 19-year-old Italian-American, who is on loan from Manchester United, also set up chances for his team-mates and was a constant threat to the Torino defence.
There were three other Serie A games on Sunday afternoon: Catania (8th) lost 0-1 at home to Cagliari (13th), Siena (11th) beat Chievo Verona (16th) 2-1 and Udinese (7th) secured a 1-0 home win over Messina (17th). On Saturday evening Atalanta moved up to sixth with a 3-1 win at bottom club Ascoli.
