Inter battle past Livorno

Inter Milan moved to within three points of Juventus and Napoli in Serie A thanks to a 2-0 win over Livorno.

Inter Milan moved to within three points of Juventus and Napoli in Serie A thanks to a 2-0 win over Livorno which saw Javier Zanetti make his return to action at the age of 40. An own goal by Inter Milan's own goalkeeper Francesco Bardi, who is playing on loan this season at Livorno, and a late Yuto Nagatomo strike earned the Nerazzurri all three points at the San Siro. Zanetti entered for the final 10 minutes, earning a standing ovation as he took to the field for the first time since rupturing his Achilles tendon in April. Walter Mazzarri's men were keen to take advantage of the fact Napoli and Juventus, in second and third, are playing each other this weekend, and they soon put Bardi's goal under pressure. The Italy under-21 international kept Rodrigo Palacio out a few times before making an uncharacteristic mistake to gift Inter the lead. Jonathan's cross from the right was curling away from goal, but in an attempt to prevent it from reaching one of the incoming attackers, Bardi managed to scoop it backwards into his own net. Inter continued to have plenty of joy with Jonathan's incursions down the right and he was the source of much danger with Palacio heading one of his crosses over the crossbar. On the stroke of half time, Ricardo Alvarez saw his shot saved well by Bardi, who started to make up for his earlier mistake. Bardi then saved from Palacio before denying Esteban Cambiasso, now becoming Livorno's hero after being the villain early on. The moment Inter fans have been waiting six months for then arrived with 10 minutes left when Zanetti took off his tracksuit and entered the field of play for the first time this season. He got the move going which led to Nagatomo scoring a second in injury time to seal Inter's win.