Serie A stalemates put Inter in sight of top spot

Inter Milan will go top of Serie A with victory in Sunday's derby against AC Milan after all four afternoon fixtures in Italy's top flight finished in stalemate.

Minnows Chievo remain top of the pile, six points ahead of stuttering champions Juventus, after all four fixtures finished 2-2.

Inter, in sixth place and one point off the pace, will pull clear of the pack if they dominate the 'Derby della Madonnina' at the San Siro, where the attendance is expected to reach 77,000.

After missing out on Europe this season, Inter coach Roberto Mancini has underlined his side's aim to challenge four-time consecutive champions Juventus for the scudetto.

Juventus sit in 16th place on just one point from three games thanks to a 1-1 draw with Chievo on Saturday, the champions' worst start to the season since the 1962-1963 campaign.

Verona looked to be heading for their first win of the season after second-half goals from Luca Toni, from the spot, and Juanito Gomez put the hosts in control against Torino.

But Torino reduced arrears on 66 minutes thanks to Daniele Baselli and Afriyie Acquah levelled in the 73rd minute to claim a share of the spoils to leave Torino in provisional second place.

At the Mapei Stadium, Sassuolo defender Sime Vrsaljko saw red and Atalanta counterpart Gianpaolo Bellini was also sent off late in the second half.

Atalanta striker Mauricio Pinilla opened his account for the season in spectacular style with a fine overhead kick that left Andrea Consigli rooted to the spot.

Antonio Floro Flores headed a bouncing cross into the net minutes later only to be ruled offside, but Sassuolo did level, in style, when Francesco Magnanelli unleashed a bullet from outside the area into the top right-hand corner.

- Underwhelming -

Pinilla doubled his tally in the 33rd minute but Sassuolo levelled through Floro Flores just before the break.

Atalanta should have claimed all three points at the death after Vrsaljko saw red for a foul on Maxi Moralez, but Consigli easily saved the striker's terrible effort from the penalty spot.

Napoli's start to the season under new coach Maurizio Sarri has been underwhelming, and their hopes of a first win of the campaign were kept in check at Empoli.

Italy forward Lorenzo Insigne responded to Riccardo Saponara's third-minute opener for the hosts four minutes later with a superb first-timer that curled past Lukasz Skorupski and into the net.

Barely 10 minutes later, Manuel Pucciarelli restored Empoli's lead when he bundled home from close range but Allan's 50th minute leveller for Napoli secured a point for the visitors at Empoli's notoriously difficult Carlo Castellani ground.

Oscar Hiljemark opened Palermo's account on six minutes when he bundled home from close range, only for a Roberto Vitiello own goal to pull Carpi level before the half-hour.

Carpi were beginning to find space amid the Palermo defence and in the second half Roma reject Marco Borriello pulled the visitors ahead with a well-struck second after holding off his marker to sweep Ryder Matos's perfectly-weighted ball past Stefano Sorrentino.

It was Borriello's first Serie A goal since scoring Roma's winner against Chievo in October 2013 but the Italian twice went on to spurn chances to add to his tally.

Those misses proved costly as Uros Djurdjevic came off the bench to power a header home for the hosts two minutes from the final whistle.

Before the first Milan derby of the season, Lazio host Udinese.

Sampdoria were due to host Bologna, however their fixture has been re-scheduled for Monday evening at 1945 GMT due to heavy rain in Liguria.
Source: AFP