Juventus had their lead at the top of Serie A reduced to one point on Tuesday evening as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Roberto Mancini’s Internazionale.
Carlos Tévez scored from close range for Juventus after only five minutes, but his goal was cancelled out by Mauro Icardi’s ninth of the season midway through the second half as he beat defender Leonardo Bonucci to a long pass and angled a shot inside the far post beyond the reach of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Internazionale, who brought the former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski off the substitutes bench for his debut early in the second half, held on to the draw despite having Mateo Kovacic sent off with a straight red in the 86th minute for a rash tackle on Stephan Lichsteiner.
The draw means Juventus are now just one point clear of second-placed Roma, who grabbed a 1-0 win at Udinese in what was a full programme of matches in Italy on a public holiday to mark Epiphany.
Roma’s win was marked by controversy, as the referee ruled that a header from Davide Astori in the 17th minute had hit the underside of the crossbar and crossed the line - despite a goal-line official judging otherwise. Goal-line technology has not yet been approved for Serie A matches.
