Having tasted victory in their previous 17 league games, Inter were expected to stroll past the Bianconeri, but the visitors grabbed a surprise lead through Christian Obodo before Hernan Crespo equalised.

The result means Inter maintain their 14-point lead over Roma, whose slim Scudetto chances suffered another blow earlier on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw at lowly Chievo.

The Romans found themselves 2-0 down inside 33 minutes following goals from Erjon Bogdani and Franco Semioli and had to be rescued by captain and Serie A top scorer Francesco Totti's brace.

Third-placed Palermo maintained their eight-point advantage over AC Milan following a goalless draw between the sides in Sicily and Lazio kept hold of fourth spot with a 3-1 win against Catania at the Stadio Olimpico.

Empoli moved above Milan into fifth with a 3-1 win against struggling Messina, both Ascoli versus Parma and Siena against Livorno ended goalless, while Sampdoria defeated Atalanta 2-1 in Genoa.

Elsewhere, Torino edged out Cagliari 1-0 and lowly Reggina led Fiorentina before they hit back to claim a 1-1 draw.