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Inter extend lead, Alex Sandro brace saves Juventus

Alex Sandro’s brace helped Juventus come from behind to beat Parma 3-1, while Inter extended their lead on the table despite a shock 1-1 draw against Spezia.

Sentinel Digital Desk

ROME: Alex Sandro's brace helped Juventus come from behind to beat Parma 3-1, while Inter extended their lead on the table despite a shock 1-1 draw against Spezia.

Juve dropped to fourth place after a 1-0 defeat to Atalanta last week. In Wednesday's fixture, the Old Lady had Cristiano Ronaldo return but lost Federico Chiesa to injury.

Relegation battlers Parma took the lead in the 23rd minute in spectacular style, as Gaston Brugman curled his free-kick into the corner, leaving Gianluigi Buffon stranded.

An unlikely hero came to Juve's rescue as left-back Sandro scored the equaliser on Matthijs de Ligt's assist in the 43rd minute before the Brazilian bagged a brace by meeting Juan Cuadrado's floated cross two minutes into the second half.

De Ligt then got on the scoresheet himself as his twisting header on Cuadrado's corner helped Juve seal the win.

Juve temporarily climbs back to third place with 65 points, one ahead of Atalanta who visits Roma on Thursday.

Inter Milan saw its winning streak come to an end after a 1-1 tie with Napoli. Facing newly-promoted Spezia, Inter conceded in the 11th minute as Samir Handanovic surprisingly let Diego Farias's powerful but fairly central drill squirm through his gloves.

Inter got back on level terms in the 38th minute as Achraf Hakimi rolled across from the right, and Ivan Perisic found the net at the back post.

The Nerazzurri had the chance to claim all three points, but Romelu Lukaku missed a solo run before his and Lautaro Martinez's goals were ruled offside.

Nevertheless, a second straight draw saw Inter extend its lead to 10 points over second-placed AC Milan who fumbled a 1-0 lead and was beaten by Sassuolo 2-1.

Also on Wednesday, Cagliari beat Udinese 1-0, Sampdoria won 1-0 away to Crotone, Bologna drew with Torino 1-1, and Benevento squandered the lead twice to be held by Genoa 2-2. IANS