MILAN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Inter Milan extended their Serie A lead to eight points as they edged 10-man Juventus 3-2 at the San Siro on Saturday with a last-minute winner from Piotr Zielinski.
It was a dramatic victory after Juventus looked to be on course for a hard-fought draw despite having Pierre Kalulu sent off in the first half.
Zielinski fired home a left-footed shot from outside the area in the 90th minute to win the game, after Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli had made it 2-2 in the 83rd.
Andrea Cambiaso’s own goal handed Inter a 17th-minute lead, but the Juventus fullback made amends by scoring an equaliser nine minutes later.
Kalulu’s sending off on the stroke of halftime handed Inter a massive second-half advantage, but they struggled to break through until Francesco Esposito’s header in the 76th minute put them back ahead.
But as they looked to be on their way to victory, Locatelli equalised.
Zielinski, however, had other ideas and Inter advanced to 61 points, comfortably ahead of second-placed AC Milan, who have played one match fewer, on 53, while Juventus remained fourth on 46.
Inter, who have a Champions League date in Norway on Wednesday against Bodo/Glimt, had some fortune with the opener as Luis Henrique’s cross was deflected by Cambiaso past goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
But Cambiaso slipped in between the Inter defence to grab the equaliser not long after, tucking away Weston McKennie’s driven cross.
Inter had struck the woodwork already before missing a good chance 10 minutes before halftime when Bremer cleared Zielinski’s shot off the line and then Lautaro Martinez fired a powerful shot from Petar Sucic's pass narrowly wide of the target.
Kalulu was cautioned for a second time for a slight touch on Alessandro Bastoni that looked a lot worse than it was, with the Inter player tumbling down dramatically.
The one-man advantage in the second half allowed Inter to dominate possession, but they laboured in front of goal before going 2-1 up.
That set up the dramatic finish with Juventus thinking they had snatched an unlikely point before Inter secured success to the delight of the home fans.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
