Wesley Sneijder, middle, and his Inter team-mates try to digest the 3-1 defeat at Catania.
Catania threw the Serie A title race wide open and took a giant step towards securing their own future in the top flight by beating 10-man Internazionale 3-1. Diego Milito put José Mourinho's team, who play Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday, in front in the 54th minute but the home side scored three goals in the final 16 minutes to secure an unlikely victory.
Inter's lead at the top of the table could be cut to one point if Milan beat Chievo on Sunday night while Catania have moved eight points clear of the bottom three.
Catania started brightly but failed to make their early dominance count and Inter slowed the play down to suit their own style and frustrate the home team. The visitors had to wait until the 34th minute for their first shot on goal, though, and when it came it was an easy save for Mariano Andujar from Wesley Sneijder's angled effort.
Adrián Ricchiuti then had another chance with just Júlio César to beat but Lucio threw himself desperately at the ball and did enough to put the Catania midfielder off and deflect his shot wide.
Inter emerged for the second half with a lot more conviction and they were ahead in the 54th minute when a long ball from Dejan Stankovic cut through the Catania defence and picked out Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroonian looked up and saw Milito alongside him and gave the Argentinian a simple tap-in to put the Nerazzurri ahead.
Catania responded well, though, and Giuseppi Mascara sent a low free-kick just wide of Júlio César's goal in the 58th minute. The home side seemed to be tiring and in need of a moment of inspiration and they got it in the 75th minute with Maxi López scoring his third goal in Italian football. He beat Lucio to Jorge Martínez's low cross and lifted the ball into the roof of the net from six yards.
The Sicilians suddenly found themselves in the ascendancy and Sulley Muntari gifted them the chance to go ahead with one of the quickest red cards in Serie A history.
The Ghanaian had been on the field only a few seconds when he was shown a yellow card for a foul on the edge of the penalty area and he then deliberately handled the resulting free-kick inside the box to earn a second booking and give Catania a penalty.
Mascara cheekily chipped his spot-kick straight down the middle to send the Stadio Massimino wild. And they had reason to celebrate again in the final minute when Martínez dribbled past Lucio from the left and slotted the ball past Júlio César to seal a remarkable victory.
