THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — AC Milan conceded an injury-time tying goal to draw 1-1 at Lecce on Sunday, letting Inter Milan move back atop the Serie A standings.
Lecce defender Andrea Esposito outjumped Filippo Inzaghi and scored with a header from a free kick for his first Serie A goal.
Ronaldinho had given Milan the lead in the 79th minute, his third goal in three games this week.
With his team struggling to find the target, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti sent on Inzaghi and Alexandre Pato and seconds later Pato provided the cross that Ronaldinho redirected into the back of the net.
Ronaldinho scored winners in Milan’s 1-0 win over Napoli last weekend and in a 1-0 victory over Sporting Braga in the UEFA Cup on Thursday.
Lecce was awarded the free kick that led to the equalizer following a light foul by Emerson.
"That was a foul that gets called only in Italy, nowhere else," Ancelotti said. "The game was won. It wasn’t even that we were inattentive. It was the referee that was inattentive."
Milan hasn’t won at Lecce’s Via del Mare stadium since January 2002.
Inter, which needed an injury-time winner from Julio Ricardo Cruz in a 1-0 win over Udinese, leads with 24 points. Milan and Napoli, which beat Sampdoria 2-0, are tied for second with 23 points each.
Cruz, who came on at halftime, redirected a corner with a header two minutes into added time. Still, Inter struggled for long stretches.
"Without playing a super game, Inter beat a very dangerous team," Mourinho said of Udinese, which lost for only the second time this season. "I only recall one scoring chance for them. We were very good in defence. We never ran into danger and the fact that we scored in the last minute shows what type of character we have."
Unhappy Inter fans began to whistle and boo as the match wore on, and Mourinho responded after Cruz’s goal by holding a finger to his lips as if to say, "Be quiet."
"We won and we got three points. On other occasions we played better and didn’t win anything," Mourinho said.
Inter also needed a late goal from Cruz to draw 3-3 with Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Ivan Cordoba scored in injury time to beat Reggina 3-2 last weekend following successive 0-0 draws in the Serie A.
Daniele Mannini and Marcelo Zalayeta scored for Napoli, with Ezequiel Lavezzi setting up both scores.
Lazio, which routed Siena 3-0, is fourth with 22 points. The Roman team had two goals from Tommaso Rocchi and one from Mauro Zarate, who led the scoring chart earlier this season but had gone five rounds without a goal.
A goal by Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano was disallowed with a controversial offside call in the 67th.
Juventus won its fourth straight game after going four matches without a win.
Celebrating his 34th birthday, Alessandro Del Piero extended his sterling form by scoring with another free kick in a 2-0 win at Chievo Verona.
"Alex is the captain and leader. He’s carrying Juve on his shoulders during this tough time, and everyone is following him," Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said. "He’s a player that scores when you give him even just a minimal opportunity."
Del Piero scored both goals — one with a free kick — in a 2-0 win at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Vincenzo Iaquinta added Juventus’ second goal this time.
Udinese and Juventus are tied with 21 points each, with the top eight teams bunched within four points of each other.
Fiorentina, coming off a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich, beat Atalanta 2-1 with goals from Felipe Melo and Alberto Gilardino in a three-minute span of the first half.
Gilardino, who has eight goals, returned after serving a two-game suspension for scoring with his hand.
Sergio Floccari pulled one back for Atalanta with a penalty in the 77th.
Argentine forward Diego Milito scored a hat trick and set up Genoa’s other goal in a 4-0 win over 10-man Reggina. Milito moved atop the scoring chart with nine goals, sending a signal to new Argentina coach Diego Maradona that he’s ready if called upon.
In Sicily, Rocco Sabato scored an 81st-minute winner as Catania beat Cagliari 2-1.
On Saturday, AS Roma’s troubles continued as Cicinho scored an own goal in the 90th to give Bologna a 1-1 draw. Also, Austria midfielder Juergen Saumel scored in the 89th for Torino to beat 10-man Palermo 1-0.
Mourinho was planning to replace Ricardo Quaresma with Hernan Crespo to start the second half, but Crespo hurt himself while warming up and Cruz came on instead.
Defender Maurizio Domizzi missed a header on one of Udinese’s best chances in the 51st and Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic stopped an attempt by Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 58th.
Inter captain Javier Zanetti hit the post with a long shot in the 88th.
Mourinho was critical of Quaresma’s play.
"Today was the end of the three games I gave him (to prove himself)," Mourinho said. "He needs to rest and calm down and he knows it. This is not the real Quaresma and I can’t wait any longer."