Julio Cruz left it deep into stoppages to snatch victory for Inter after running quite a few risks against Udinese and complaints Ivan Cordoba should've been sent off.

This was an unlikely top of the table clash, as Jose Mourinho and Pasquale Marino's men had both accrued 21 points, one less than leaders Milan. The stage was set for a very tough task, as Udinese were fresh from a 2-1 UEFA Cup win away to Spartak Moscow and were unbeaten against Inter since a 1-0 Coppa Italia result in March 2006, followed by five consecutive draws. Meanwhile, the Nerazzurri squeezed past Reggina 3-2 in stoppages last week and were held 3-3 by Anorthosis on Tuesday.

Adriano was again frozen out following a row with Mourinho, joining the injured Cristian Chivu, Nelson Rivas, Sulley Muntari, Luis Jimenez and Luis Figo. Nicolas Burdisso was dropped following his howlers in Cyprus and Walter Samuel made his comeback. Udinese also missed top star Antonio Di Natale due to a bout of influenza.

Udinese were very dangerous on the counter right from the start, as Antonio Floro Flores was stopped for a dubious offside position as he ran clear on Fabio Quagliarella's pass.

Maurizio Domizzi charged down Zlatan Ibrahimovic's effort set up by Mario Balotelli and Samir Handanovic comfortably smothered a Ricardo Quaresma low strike, while Floro Flores wasted a smart Gaetano D'Agostino backheel flick inside the box.

Maxwell's smart long ball to the back post went past both Ibrahimovic and Esteban Cambiasso.

A powerful Gokhan Inler snapshot forced Julio Cesar into a low parry and Handanovic held Balotelli's free kick. Julio Cruz replaced Quaresma for the second half.

Mere seconds after the restart Floro Flores went on a slalom through the Nerazzurri jerseys and brought a low save out of Julio Cesar. Maurizio Domizzi nodded a Floro Flores cross over from six yards.

There was panic in the box on 58 minutes, as Ibra pounced on a loose ball and smashed his angled drive straight at Handanovic, who then recovered to also bravely smother the Balotelli follow-up.

Andrea Coda brought down Ibra just outside the area, but the Cruz free kick only hit the wall. Handanovic punched away a Cambiasso set piece, but the San Siro crowd was beginning to lose patience.

Julio Cesar was at full stretch to palm a D'Agostino screamer round the near post, while Udinese were furious when Ivan Cordoba was only booked for a shocking two-footed sliding tackle on Inler. It was a leg-breaker tackle and frankly deserved a straight red.

Inter went so close to winning it at the 88th minute when captain Javier Zanetti unleashed a low angled drive that beat Handanovic only to thump the base of the far post!

Deep into stoppages substitute Cruz won it for Inter, as a corner kick was touched on for his diving header from a couple of yards! A group of Inter players all jumped together, but it was Il Jardinero who got the touch. Jose Mourinho celebrated in a controversial fashion, urging the crowd behind him to shut up by putting his finger to his lips. It is the second week in a row that the Nerazzurri have won in the final minute.