Inter Milan won 3-0 at Empoli on Sunday to equal its
club record of eight straight wins in the Italian league.
Hernan Crespo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Walter Samuel scored in the
second half for Inter, which previously won eight straight on three
different occasions.
Inter leads the Serie A with 39 points, followed by AS Roma with
32 and Palermo with 31.
Also Sunday, Catania moved into fourth place with a 1-0 win over
Udinese. Gionatha Spinesi headed in the goal in the 68th minute for
the promoted Sicilian club.
AC Milan continued to struggle and was held to a 0-0 draw by
Torino at the San Siro. Milan striker Alberto Gilardino missed a
penalty kick in the 79th.
Milan, which began the season with an eight-point penalty from
the Italian match-fixing scandal, is in 15th place with 13 points.
It has won only three of eight games at home, in contrast to its
undefeated record of 18 wins and one draw last season.
Last season's Serie B winner Atalanta beat Messina 3-2 to move
into a tie for fifth with Livorno, while Adrian Mutu's 80th-minute
goal gave Fiorentina a 1-0 win at Chievo Verona.
Cagliari-Parma and Sampdoria-Siena played scoreless draws.
Later Sunday, Roma played Lazio in the Roman derby.
On Saturday, Palermo beat Livorno 3-0.
At Empoli, Crespo scored in the 61st on a rebound after
Ibrahimovic's header had hit the crossbar.
Ibrahimovic scored with a shot that went in off the post in the
79th, and Samuel headed in his second goal of the season in the 87th
on a cross from Nicolas Burdisso.
Brazil striker Adriano, returning from a back injury, replaced
Crespo after the Argentine had scored.
Inter hasn't lost in the league since falling to Empoli on April
30 of last season.
At San Siro, Milan had half its starting lineup injured and
Andrea Pirlo suspended. Besides Gilardino's missed penalty, the
closest Milan came to scoring were two first-half chances by reserve
forward Marco Borriello.
Torino, which had won three games straight, threatened throughout
the second half and Roberto Muzzi hit the crossbar in the 89th.
The game was briefly suspended twice when Milan fans threw flares
onto the field.
