Advertisement

Soccer-Inter salvage 3-3 draw in Verona thriller

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Ivan Perisic scored a late equaliser as Inter Milan salvaged a 3-3 draw at bottom club Hellas Verona on Sunday in a match that did little to reignite their flickering Serie A title hopes. The draw leaves Inter fourth on 45 points, eight behind leaders Napoli and six adrift of second-place Juventus, who play Carpi and Frosinone respectively later. Inter's once-watertight defence was breached twice inside the first 16 minutes when Filip Helander and Eros Pisano cancelled out Jeison Murillo's eighth-minute header. Roberto Mancini's team have kept 13 clean sheets so far this season, but their defence has struggled to convince in the New Year and were undone twice in the space of four minutes as Helander and Pisano headed home Luca Marrone free kicks. Artur Ionita diverted a Marrone corner past Samir Handanovic to make it 3-1 in the 57th minute before Inter responded through Mauro Icardi in the 61st. Perisic then rescued a point in the 78th when his finish was fumbled into the back of the net by Pierluigi Gollini. Verona, who had not won a Serie A match this season before a midweek victory over Atalanta, extended their unbeaten run to five games but will be distraught at having let a two-goal lead slip. They remained last on 15 points. (Reporting by Ed Dove, editing by Alan Baldwin)