Roberto Baggio missed a second-half penalty yesterday as his Inter Milan side stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Parma which left them eight points adrift at the top of the Italian first division. Baggio, who scored 11 penalties out of 11 in the league last season, missed the 72nd minute spot-kick, awarded after Ronaldo had been brought down by Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro.

The former Italy captain, famed for his penalty miss at the end of the 1994 World Cup final against Brazil, hit his shot low and hard but wide of Gianluigi Buffon's right hand post.

Parma had taken the lead through Baggio's Italy team-mate Diego Fuser, who curled a sweetly struck free- kick inside Gianluca Pagliuca's near post after 54 minutes.

Parma's eighth Serie A victory of the season kept them within three points of leaders Fiorentina, who beat David Platt's struggling Sampdoria 1-0 thanks to a 27th-minute strike by Manuel Rui Costa.