The Roman derby between AS Roma and Lazio was suspended on Sunday with the score tied 0-0 in the 48th minute, while Inter Milan won for the first time in two months.

　　As the second half of the derby began, fans demanded that the match be stopped when a rumor spread through the stands that a youth had been killed by police outside the stadium.

　　Police said repeatedly that no such incident occurred, but referee Roberto Rosetti decided to stop the match for "reasons of public order."

　　League president Adriano Galliani said the match would be replayed.

　　The suspension left Roma in second place, 10 points behind league-leader AC Milan, which beat Parma 3-1 on Saturday. Lazio remained tied for fourth with Parma.

　　Third-place Juventus drew 0-0 at Udinese on Saturday to fall 11 points out of first.

　　Inter's win was due in large part to the efforts of Uruguayan striker Alvaro Recoba, who scored one second-half goal and set up another in a 2-0 shutout of last-place Ancona.

　　The win moved the struggling Milan club one point shy of fourth place, the position it needs to gain a chance of playing in next season's Champions League.

　　In league play, Inter had suffered through five losses and a draw since its last victory, a 4-0 decision against Siena on February 1. Including all competitions, the club had gone winless in 11 matches.

　　In other action on Sunday, Bologna beat Roberto Baggio's Brescia 3-0; Siena's Nicola Ventola scored an 87th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Chievo; Empoli's Tommaso Rocchi found the net in second-half injury time of a 1-1 draw with Sampdoria; Lecce could not come back from a 2-0 deficit and lost 2-1 to Perugia; and Reggina goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi saved a second-half penalty shot in a 2-1 win against Modena.

　　At the capital's Stadio Olimpico, Lazio had outplayed Roma for long stretches in the first half, which ended with both sides hitting the post.

　　Lazio striker Bernardo Corradi's long shot bounced off the outside of the iron in the 39th and Roma captain Francesco Totti's angled shot on a counterattack hit the post in the 44th.

　　After play was stopped, players and many fans looked around in a state of confusion.

　　"There was a rumor that a boy was run over by a police car," Lazio defender Sinisa Mihajlovic said in an interview with RAI state radio. "We did the right thing. If we played, this could have gotten very bad."

　　At Ancona's Del Conero stadium, Inter threatened throughout the first half but could not find the net until Recoba converted a long blast in the 61st minute.

　　In the 70th, Inter defender Daniele Adani redirected in a free kick by Recoba to make it 2-0.

　　"It was important to free ourselves after more than a month without victories and it wasn't easy psychologically against a squad that had nothing to lose," Inter coach Alberto Zaccheroni said.

　　Recoba said after the match that he felt underutilized by Zaccheroni in recent matches.

　　"We have a base of 30 players and we alternate them," Zaccheroni said in response.

　　Zaccheroni rested top striker Christian Vieri ahead of the club's UEFA Cup match against Benfica on Thursday and Recoba started alongside fellow South American forwards Adriano and Julio Ricardo Cruz.

　　With its 28th consecutive loss dating back to its previous season in Serie A, newly promoted Ancona equaled the Serie A record for futility set by Varese in 1971-72. The Adriatic seaside club is the only team in Western Europe's major leagues still without a win this season.

　　On Saturday, Milan's Danish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson scored two goals, Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko added another to pad his Serie A scoring lead, and Brazilian midfielder Kaka made some spectacular moves for the European champions.

　　Juventus' draw ended a streak of losses in three different competitions. The Turin powerhouse was coming off elimination by Deportivo de La Coruna in the Champions League, a 3-1 beating by Milan in its previous league match and a 2-0 loss to Lazio in a first-leg final of the Italian Cup.

　　(The Associated Press)