A controversial penalty rescued Inter Milan from their second defeat of the week as they salvaged a 1-1 draw against struggling Brescia at the San Siro.

Andrea Caracciolo put the visitors in front in the 14th minute, but Samuel Eto'o equalised from the spot in the 73rd minute after appearing to slip inside the penalty area and fool the referee into giving a penalty.

The result edged Inter to within three points of league leaders Lazio, who face city rivals Roma tomorrow. However, after losing 3-1 to Tottenham on Tuesday, it was another poor result which will only increase the pressure on coach Rafael Benitez.

Michele Arcari had to be alert to thwart the first moment of danger in the fourth minute as he pushed Wesley Sneilder's free-kick away. Brescia made it clear they were not looking to just defend a point with the lively Caracciolo taking his second chance of the game to put the visitors in front in the 14th minute.

He was a bit fortunate with a rebound off the inside leg of Walter Samuel, but his commitment was rewarded with his fifth career goal against I Nerazzurri as he placed his shot past Luca Castellazzi before Lucio could get in a covering tackle.

Inter tried to respond with Coutinho shooting over and Goran Pandev's shot deflecting off the hip of Gaetano Berardi to go wide. Eto'o had a cross deflected onto the face of the crossbar before he set up Pandev, who shot over the crossbar.

The home fans were beginning to get frustrated, but Eto'o was doing all he could to create openings - and he won a penalty in the 73rd minute. Berardi was adjudged to have fouled the Cameroonian, who seemed to be slipping over anyway inside the penalty area.

The referee, who had already waved away several half-hearted appeals for a penalty from the Inter striker, this time ruled in favour of the striker and pointed to the spot.

Eto'o stepped up to place the penalty into the bottom left-hand corner before racing back to the centre circle, getting a piece of Berardi's mind as he passed the Brescia defender who had been accused of fouling him. I Nerazzurri threw everybody forward in search of a winner, but they were unable to find one.

In the day's other game, Bologna left it late to take all three points against Lecce at the Stadio Dall'Ara and move out of the relegation zone. Marco Di Vaio put the home side ahead in the 84th minute and Henry Gimenez wrapped up the 2-0 win a minute later.