Mourinho lost for words

The Serie A leaders Internazionale suffered a stunning 3-1 defeat at Atalanta yesterday to blow the title race wide open.

Sergio Floccari grabbed a superb opener for mid-table Atalanta on 18 minutes and Cristiano Doni extended their lead with a deflected free-kick and a powerful header in the first half. The Internazionale manager, Jose Mourinho, used all his three substitutes by the start of the second half but his side barely mustered a shot on target before Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a consolation in injury time.

"I can't explain it," Mourinho said. "I should keep quiet and let the sports press use any adjective they want, which I must accept, given my team played such an awful match."

Genoa climbed to fourth, the final Champions League qualifying spot, thanks to a 2-0 win at Lecce and fifth-placed Napoli's controversial 2-1 defeat at joint-bottom Chievo, who moved level on points with Reggina, who lost 1-0 at Siena on Saturday following two Michele Marcolini penalties, although replays suggested Simone Bentivoglio dived to win the second spot-kick.

Last season's runners-up, AS Roma, who had a terrible start to the campaign, are now just five points off a Champions League place after a wonderful overhead kick from Julio Baptista in injury time sealed a 1-0 win at lowly Torino.