Inter were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Sunday afternoon.
Mauricio Pinilla opened the scoring from the penalty spot for the Isolani late in the first half, with Rolando equalising early in the second period for the Nerazzurri.
Cagliari started the game brightly, and Victor Ibarbo in particular caused problems for the Inter defence, drawing a foul from Juan Jesus, which resulted in a sixth minute yellow card. He also skipped past two defenders brilliantly on the right flank to deliver a left-footed shot, which failed to test Samir Handanovic and went sailing over the bar.
In the opening 20 minutes both teams played some poor balls forward, as they attempted to calibrate their passing, and neither side could enjoy a sustained period of possession.
Around the 25 minute mark, Walter Samuel had the best chance of the match so far, jumping well at the far post and beating Luca Rossettini to meet Ricardo Alvarez’s cross from the right, but his powerful header went wide of the left upright.
After this point, the Nerazzurri grew into the game, and saw the lion’s share of the ball, but still failed to pose a real threat to Avramov’s goal as Diego Milito and Rodrigo Palacio were uncharacteristically quiet.
Ibarbo was creating havoc for Juan Jesus, and the Brazilian conceded a penalty after hand-balling in the box as he charged down a shot from his fellow South American – Mauricio Pinilla struck the resulting spot-kick and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, giving the away side the lead five minutes from the break.
Avramov made a great double save with seconds of the first half remaining, as Milito struck a falling ball on the edge of the penalty area on the right, and the Serbian custodian spilled the ball, but closed Alvarez down well to prevent him from following up.
Mauro Icardi had an excellent chance to equalise for the hosts early on in the second period, latching brilliantly onto a lofted Guarin pass, bringing it down with his left foot, however he fired over the bar from close range on the right.
Rolando got the equaliser after 52 minutes – Icardi played a big part in the goal, nodding a ball back across the penalty box for the Biscione defender, following a good cross from Yuto Nagatomo on the right, as the Portuguese struck the ball through Avramov’s legs.
Guarin then wasted the chance to give his side the lead, tricking his way past two defenders on the right side of the area, ending the move by blasting over with his weaker left foot.
Ibarbo held the ball up well moments later, with Cossu attempting a shot on the edge of the box, as Handanovic had to dive to his left to see it over the bar.
Down the other end, Guarin chipped a beautiful ball over the top of the Sardi defence for Palacio, who shot on goal, with Avramov with a great save to deny the Argentine.
As the final 15 minutes of the game approached, mistakes started to creep in with fatigue beginning to play a major factor, and up ’til now it had been a very even contest.
The Beneamata piled on the pressure in the final minutes though, coming close to getting a winner on numerous occasions, even hitting the crossbar through Rolando, with Avramov beaten all ends up. The Serb then tipped an ambitious free-kick from Guarin just past his left post seconds before the whistle blew as the Isolani held on for a well-earned point.
Follow Anthony Alborino on Twitter: @anthonyalborino
