Soccer: Inter held by Atalanta; 9-man Bayern drop points

A summary of results from football leagues across Europe.

Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Atalanta on Saturday, as the Serie A leaders continue to drop points and leave the title race ticking over.

Inter have 68 points, eight ahead of second-placed AC Milan who visit Lazio on Sunday. Atalanta remain seventh on 47 points.

Francesco Pio Esposito gave Inter the lead in the 26th minute but they failed to put the game beyond Atalanta in a lacklustre display.

The visitors found the equaliser through Nikola Krstovic eight minutes from time, with Inter manager Cristian Chivu sent off as the home side furiously protested a foul in the build-up.

Both sides were looking to put recent disappointments behind them. Inter's 15-game unbeaten Serei A run was brought to an end by neighbours AC Milan in last weekend's 1-0 derby defeat.

Atalanta, meanwhile, were on a four-game run without a win in all competitions, including Tuesday's 6-1 hammering at home by Bayern Munich in their Champions League last-16 first leg.

Inter had plenty of early possession but their final ball let them down while Atalanta looked dangerous on the counter.

Yann Sommer saved an early shot from Gianluca Scamacca, the Inter keeper unable to hold onto the ball but scrambling to clear with Giorgio Scalvini ready to pounce.

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso was at San Siro as he prepares to name his squad for the World Cup playoff with Northern Ireland on March 26 and Esposito will have impressed him when opening the scoring.

Esposito collected a pass from Nicolo Barella and drove a low shot from wide in the area under keeper Marco Carnesecchi, who should probably have done better.

Marcus Thuram curled an effort just wide shortly after the break with Inter looking to kill the game off, and the striker was through one-on-one with the keeper on the hour mark but Carnesecchi got out quickly to block the shot.

Atalanta punished Inter's misses when Sommer saved Kamaldeen Sulemana's shot but fellow substitute Krstovic pounced to net the rebound as Chivu's side risk allowing Milan to get back into the Scudetto battle.

Nine-man Bayern come from behind to rescue 1-1 draw at Leverkusen

Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich had two players sent off and two goals disallowed but came back from a goal down to snatch a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

Bayern have 67 points ahead of second-placed Borussia Dortmund, who closed the gap to nine after a 2-0 home victory over Augsburg, with eight games remaining.

The Bavarians, fresh from Tuesday's 6-1 demolition of Atalanta in the Champions League last 16, had Nicolas Jackson sent off for a wild tackle before the break. Forward Luis Diaz, who scored a 69th-minute equaliser, joined him on the sidelines after a second booking for diving.

"I'm incredibly proud of the team's mentality today," said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany, who was unhappy with decisions, including two disallowed goals by Jonathan Tah and Harry Kane, both for handball.

"I'm proud of the team, but unhappy with some of the decisions. Regarding Jonathan Tah's (disallowed first half) goal, what should he do? The ball bounced off his arm into his foot."

"As for Harry's goal, I can't understand it either. For me it was a clear goal. I'm proud but there were situations where we can have different opinions."

PERFECT START FOR LEVERKUSEN

The hosts made a perfect start when Aleix Garcia fired them into the lead as Bayern, with top scorer Kane on the bench, failed to settle.

They put the ball in the net through Tah but the effort was disallowed following a VAR review for handball.

It got worse three minutes from halftime when Jackson was dismissed for his reckless tackle on Martin Terrier.

Malik Tillman should have added another for Leverkusen when he was sent through with a clever Patrik Schick backheel but the U.S. international fired wide with only Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich to beat.

Bayern's third-choice keeper, making a rare appearance due to injuries to Manuel Neuer and Jonas Urbig, also denied Schick in a one-on-one.

Kane, back after missing two matches due to a muscle injury, challenged keeper Janis Blaswich and tapped in from close range a minute after coming on, only for the goal to be disallowed for handball by the England captain.

Diaz did better, slotting in after a defensive blunder from Robert Andrich and Michael Olise's record-breaking 17th assist of the season, to level, but he got his marching orders six minutes from time for a spectacular dive in the box.

There was more late drama when the hosts thought they had won it in stoppage time through substitute Jonas Hofmann's close-range effort but a VAR review showed a narrow offside position.

Lorient stun second placed Lens with 2-1 win in Ligue 1

Second-placed Lens missed the opportunity to go top of the Ligue 1 table when they slipped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Lorient on Saturday as Aiyegun Tosin netted the winner for the hosts midway through the second half.

Lens stay on 56 points from 26 games, one point behind leaders Paris St Germain, who have played a game fewer and are not in action this weekend as they face Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday.

Lorient climb two places to eighth with 37 points from 26 games as they took the lead through Bamba Dieng, only for Lens to equalise via Odsonne Edouard.

The hosts were in front on 18 minutes when Dieng turned the ball in from a rebound to score his seventh goal of the Ligue 1 season and fourth in as many games.

They held that advantage until halftime, but Lens equalised early in the second period as Edouard took a good pass from Mamadou Sangare in the box and finished low into the net.

Lorient regained the lead on 65 minutes with their first shot in the second half as Tosin made space for the strike after a pass from Arsene Kouassi and provided a clinical finish.