Inter Milan duly wrapped up their 15th Italian title yesterday when beating Siena 2-1 on an afternoon when their closest rivals, AS Roma, lost 2-1 away to Atalanta. With five games remaining, Inter have an unbeatable 16-point advantage over second-placed Roma.
The hero of the day for Inter was their controversial central defender Marco Materazzi, the player involved in the infamous head-butting incident that saw Zinedine Zidane sent off in last year's World Cup final in Berlin.
Materazzi tapped home from an 18th-minute corner to open the scoring for Inter. With Siena equalising just three minutes later through their experienced defender Paolo Negro, it was Materazzi who won the game from the penalty spot in the 60th minute.
Inter's Argentinian striker Julio Cruz, attempting to intercept a poor back-pass, was brought down by the Siena goalkeeper, the Austrian Alex Manninger. Although it was arguable whether the foul was inside or outside the penalty area, referee Nicola Ayroldi pointed to the spot. Materazzi had to retake the spot kick but scored comfortably for his eighth goal of the season.
Awarded last season's Serie A title following the disqualification of Juventus, Inter have dominated this season's championship, leading since early October, winning 17 consecutive games and beaten only once, when losing 1-3 to Roma at the San Siro on Wednesday afternoon.
After the game, club owner Massimo Moratti argued his side thoroughly deserved their title: "This is the second title we have won without robbing anything from anyone. We got last year's title, because others robbed."
Moratti chose yesterday's winning moment to confirm the club had extended the contract of coach Roberto Mancini. On the back of this triumphant season, Mancini has signed a new, four-year contract with the option of a fifth season at the Milan club.
Inter's city rivals, AC Milan, who travel to Manchester today in preparation for tomorrow night's Champions League semi-final tie against Manchester United, yesterday sprang a minor surprise when naming Brazilian goalkeeper Dida in their squad. Dida, who is suffering from a shoulder problem, has missed Milan's last two Serie A games, a 5-2 win over Ascoli in midweek and a 3-1 win over Cagliari on Saturday night.
The Australian Zeljko Kalac, who replaced Dida against both Ascoli and Cagliari is on standby in case Dida should fail a late fitness test.
With Old Trafford in mind, Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti rested most of his first-choice team on Saturday, defenders Massimo Oddo, Marek Jankulovski, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, playmaker Kaka and striker Alberto Gilardino watching from the sidelines.
In the end, Milan ran out easy winners thanks to two goals from Ronaldo (cup-tied against Manchester Utd) and one from World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo, a second-half substitute.
