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Striker Julio Cruz headed in 10 minutes from time to spare defender Nicolas Burdisso's blushes and give Internazionale a 3-3 draw at Anorthosis Famagusta in Champions League Group B.

A win would have put the Serie A champions through to the last 16 but instead the group leaders gifted Anorthosis three goals.

Mario Balotelli and Marco Materazzi twice put Inter ahead in the first half but poor headers from Burdisso and Esteban Cambiasso allowed Cedric Bardon and Georgios Panagi to twice equalise.

Argentina defender Burdisso then got in another muddle with a header and Nikolaos Frousos fired home five minutes after the break before substitute Cruz nodded in Balotelli's free kick.

Inter, who beat the Cypriots 1-0 at home two weeks ago, took the lead on 13 minutes when Zlatan Ibrahimovic's swerving free kick was parried by goalkeeper Arian Beqaj and Balotelli slotted home despite protests that he was offside.

The Cypriots hit back on the half hour when Burdisso tried to head a long ball back to Julio Cesar only to find his goalkeeper standing next him, leaving Bardon with an empty net.

Defender Materazzi put the visitors back in front on 44 minutes when he headed in Balotelli's corner with the home defence appealing for a push.

Moments later the hosts were level again when Inter failed to deal with a corner and Cambiasso headed the ball against the back of Panagi's head and it flew in.

Jose Mourinho's side had a number of chances to snatch victory, with Cambiasso feeling he had an effort which crossed the line.

Inter, who had drawn two of their last three league games and only beat Reggina 3-2 on Saturday with a stoppage time goal, have eight points with Anorthosis on five with two games left.

Werder Bremen 0-3 Panathinaikos

In the group's other game, Panathinaikos revived their hopes of a place in the knockout phase when a ruthless second-half display earned them a 3-0 win away to Werder Bremen.

Vangelis Mantzios made it 1-0 with just under an hour gone, Giorgios Karagounis lashed in a perfect half-volley for the second and Alexandros Tziolis made certain when his first-time shot on the rebound wrong-footed goalkeeper Tim Wiese.

It was a first win of the campaign for Panathinaikos, who have four points from four matches and move ahead of Werder, who drew their first three games.

Werder had controlled the first half, enjoying the better chances and looking well capable of improving on the 2-2 draw they managed when the two sides met in Athens last month.

They almost took the lead when Diego sent in a swerving free kick and Claudio Pizarro's flick header forced a fine point-blank save from Mario Galinovic.

Mesut Ozil caused the visitors problems down the left and Diego ran the game through the middle but the strikers could not find the finishing touch and Panathinaikos punished them when Mantzios turned two defenders before sliding in a low shot.

Werder pushed forward in search of an equaliser but they were rocked again when Karagounis beat Wiese with a wonderful strike from the edge of the box.

The home side were by now in defensive disarray and the result looked beyond doubt even before Tziolis leapt on a block from Per Mertesacker and made Wiese look foolish with his snap shot.

Reuters