Rome: Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice in injury time for Inter Milan to rally past Cesena 2-1 on Saturday and delay city rival AC Milan in its bid for the Serie A title.
Igor Budan put Cesena in front in the 56th minute before Pazzini scored in the first and fifth minutes of added time — first with a volley following a long cross from Samuel Eto'o, then with a leaping header following a cross from Maicon.
If Inter had not won, Milan would have had a chance to seal its 18th Italian league title against Bologna at the San Siro on Sunday. Milan will now have to wait at least until next weekend's match at Roma.
"We didn't want (Milan) to win because we let them," Pazzini said. "We tried to win until the very end. We wanted to win for ourselves."
Pazzini hadn't scored since March 20 and he also nearly found the target in the 80th, heading wide. He started on the bench, then came on for Goran Pandev in the 59th.
With just three matches remaining after this weekend, Milan held a five-point lead over Inter.
Napoli was six points back after its 1-0 win over Genoa, which snapped a two-match losing streak and kept the southern club on track to qualify for the Champions League. Marek Hamsik scored with an angled shot inside the area in the 83rd to break a deadlock on a rainy night at San Paolo Stadium.
Cesena, meanwhile, remained just two points clear of the relegation zone.
Before kickoff, Inter fullback Yuto Nagatomo was honored by Cesena, the club he began the season with. The Japan international was presented with a small statue of a sea horse, Cesena's mascot.
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