MILAN, 26 October 2004 — Inter held champions AC Milan to a 0-0 draw in the Milan derby on Sunday, doing neither side much good in their bid to catch Serie A leaders Juventus.

The result was the first time the derby, in a league fixture, had ended goalless since 1989 and ended Milan’s run of four straight wins in the clash.

Juventus have a five-point advantage over Milan and early season surprise packages Lecce, while Inter, unbeaten but with five draws from seven games, are eight points behind the leaders.

While there were no goals to entertain capacity crowd of nearly 80,000 at the San Siro, both sides created opportunities and the game produced great entertainment.

In the end, though, the two prolific strikers on show, Inter’s powerful Brazilian Adriano and Milan’s Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko, were mastered by their markers and suffered from a lack of incisive service.

Inter’s best chances fell early in the match, with Christian Vieri shooting straight at Dida in the third minute and firing wide from a good position.

Vieri had scored in his previous two games, including Wednesday’s 5-1 Champions League win at Valencia, but coach Roberto Mancini said that despite the missed chances the striker was getting back to form.

“It was a shame those chances didn’t go in but to be frank he played better tonight then in the last two games including Valencia,” he said.

Despite the absence through injury of Milan’s Dutch defender Jaap Stam, Adriano was largely kept quiet by Alessandro Nesta, although on the stroke of halftime he produced a brilliant piece of skill to make space for a shot but fired wide from a tight angle.

Milan won the midfield battle but created fewer clear-cut chances, the best falling to Hernan Crespo after a break down the left by Kaka but the Argentine hesitated, allowing Inter keeper Alberto Fontana to block his attempted shot.

Inter’s best effort after the break came from an Adriano header which Dida parried and Nesta did well to clear ahead of the waiting Inter striker.

Milan were at their most dangerous when attacking down the flanks but three times they failed to convert good crosses with Andriy Shevchenko, Kaka and Massimo Ambrosini failing to test Inter keeper Alberto Fontana.

The defenses of both teams have been criticized this season and Mancini was pleased with the clean sheet.

“It was a test that we passed,” said Mancini, “We showed that against a team of Milan’s caliber we can go 90 minutes without conceding a goal. “I am satisfied with the way we played. It was a good performance against a great side. We had our chances but a draw was fair and I can cope with a point against Milan,” he added.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was also happy enough. “I’m satisfied with the way that we played. We were very competitive and played some good football. A draw was fair enough and the defense did very well to keep them out,” he said.

Sports Minister Calls for Lengthy Mutu Ban

In London, British sports minister Richard Caborn wants Chelsea’s Romanian striker Adrian Mutu banned for two years after failing a drugs test. Mutu, 25, has claimed he did not test positive for cocaine as initially reported but for a substance designed to increase his sexual strength.

The Football Association and Chelsea have yet to take action and so far no disciplinary charges have been brought against the Romanian forward.

World soccer governing body FIFA’s rules state a player should be banned for six months following a first doping offence.

But Mutu’s admission of guilt, coupled with reports he is undergoing counselling, could see the FA take a lenient view and let the player continue treatment without facing disciplinary action.

However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the standard-setter when it comes to drugs in sport, refuses to recognise any distinction between recreational and performance-enhancing drugs.

Juventus Officials Face

Jail Over Doping

In Rome, prosecutors have called for two top officials at Juventus to be jailed for their part in alleged doping at the Italian champions.

Club doctor Riccardo Agricola and general manager Antonio Giraudo are accused of supplying illegal substances to players between 1994 and 1998.

Over that period, Juventus won three Italian league titles and the European Cup.

The prosecution asked for Agricola to be jailed for 38 months and for Giraudo to be jialed for 25 months.

The scandal broke in 1998 when Czech coach Zdenek Zeman, then in charge of Roma, called on the authorities to clean drug cheats out of Italian soccer, aiming his accusations at Juventus.

The trial opened in January 2002.