Two injury time goals from Inter Milan's Julio Cruz and Lecce defender Andrea Esposito sent champions Inter top of Serie A at the expense of city rivals AC Milan.

Argentine substitute Cruz's goal gave Inter a 1-0 victory over plucky Udinese while Esposito denied AC Milan a win in a 1-1 draw on the south coast.

AC Milan are joint second with Napoli, just one point back from Inter, after Diego Maradona's former team beat Sampdoria 2-0.

The result in Milan was tough on Udinese, who were on the brink of holding out for a deserved point until they lost concentration at a corner.

Inter boss Jose Mourinho preferred to focus on his own team's strength of character in battling to the end.

"One day our opponents will score in the last minute but right now my team has the character that even when things are tough they never give up," he said.

"Today's match was difficult and it was even in the first half but after the break Julio Cesar didn't have any problems. The goal came in the 91st minute but it could have come in the 89th or when Zanetti hit the post.

"And maybe there should have been a penalty when a shot from Ibra hit a defender's hand."

The first half was notable only for being completely forgettable without a single chance of any significance.

After the break Udinese had good chances for Antonio Floro Flores and Fabio Quagliarella before Inter took control.

The hosts' captain Javier Zanetti almost won it two minutes from time with a skidding long-range strike but that cannoned back off the post with Handanovic beaten.

But then deep into injury time Udinese's defenders to a man got drawn to the near post at a corner, which was flicked on leaving Cruz free to head home in the middle of the six yard box.

Ronaldinho looked to have won the match for Milan for the third game running when he converted Pato's cross from the right just 11 minutes remaining.

But Esposito came up deep into injury time to head home a free-kick and spark wild home celebrations.