Africans In Italy: Samuel Eto'o Scores To Rescue Leaders Inter

Inter had stretched their lead at the top of the table in Serie A to a massive seven points last weekend and looked to be cruising to yet another Scudetto triumph but Roma decided to play spoilsport when striker Mirko Vucinic struck in the 13th minute to make things interesting and hopeful for title challengers Juventus.

Samuel Eto'o, though, had other ideas as he hit the Nerazzurri's equaliser just three minutes into the second half when he turned exquisitely inside the Roma penalty area to score a wonderful goal. This was the Cameroonian international striker's sixth league goal of the campaign. Although the former Barcelona striker looked somewhat subdued in the first period, he had a productive time in the second session and linked up well with his fellow strikers Diego Milito and Mario Balotelli.

The other African player featuring for Inter on Sunday night was a certain Sulley Muntari, whose season has been mixed so far. The Ghanaian international defensive midfielder worked his socks off in the first half but his inability to create anything in the midfield saw him get replaced by Wesley Sneijder at half time. Inter remain at the top of the league table but their advantage over Juventus has now been reduced to five points.

And speaking of Juventus, Ciro Ferrara's side played out a seven-goal-thriller against Atalanta but thankfully came away from Bergamo with maximum points. Mohamed Sissoko, though, missed this game too as he is suffering from a thigh strain.

The other African players to miss out on this week's actions were McDonald Mariga and Houssine Kharja. Mariga is still nursing an injury but Parma didn't miss him much as they defeated Chievo 2-0 at home. Kharja is a long term absentee but Genoa seem to be doing good without him as they won 4-2 against Siena at home.

Siena, though, could do with some inspiration as they remain rock bottom. Algerian striker Abdelkader Ghezzal did try and do something on his own as he went close on a few occasions and tested the Genoa goalkeeper with a good shot on goal once in the second half but he just couldn't do enough.

Subhankar Mondal, Goal.com