Amauri pulls Palermo level with Inter in Serie A

Palermo drew level with Inter at the top of Serie A when a stoppage-time goal by Brazilian striker Amauri gave them a 3-2 victory over Fiorentina yesterday.

The win gave Palermo 21 points from nine matches, the same as champions Inter, who beat Milan 4-3 in the derby on Saturday.

Palermo's victory was inspired by a superb individual performance from Amauri, who scored twice and provided the cross for David Di Michele to hook in the visitors' first goal after eight minutes.

Fiorentina equalised thanks to an Andrea Barzagli own goal, but in the 80th minute Amauri rose above his marker to head Cristian Zaccardo's cross past goalkeeper Sebastian Frey.

Adrian Mutu appeared to have salvaged a point for Fiorentina in the 88th minute, when he turned Riccardo Montolivo's cross into the net from close range.

However, Amauri raised his game once more, picking up the ball wide on the left and dribbling two defenders before angling the winner past Frey to seal his side's second big win in eight days, following their 2-0 victory over Milan the previous weekend.

Fiorentina's defeat ended a run of four wins in a row. The twice Italian champions, who on Friday had their punishment in the match-fixing scandal reduced from minus 19 to minus 15 points, remained in penultimate place in the 20-team division, with zero points.

Siena rose to fourth place on 15 points when a late, long-range shot by midfielder Paul Codrea earned them a 1-0 win over Ascoli.

Lazio stayed in mid-table after a scoreless draw with Reggina and Cagliari got their first win of the season - a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria.

Next fixtures

Saturday
6 p.m. Siena vs Parma
8.30 p.m. Reggina vs Catania.

Sunday
3 p.m. Atalanta vs Milan; Chievo vs Cagliari; Empoli vs Lazio; Inter vs Ascoli; Livorno vs Udinese; Palermo vs Sampdoria; Torino vs Messina. 8.30 p.m. Roma vs Fiorentina.