Inter retained their seven-point lead at the top of Serie A after goals from Marco Materazzi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave them a 2-0 victory over Messina yesterday, setting a club record with a ninth straight league win.
Inter lead on 42 points with Roma, who beat Palermo in the late kick-off, on 35 points. The Sicilians stay third four points behind Roma.
Italy defender Materazzi fired Inter in front in spectacular fashion in the 49th minute with an acrobatic overhead kick.
Sweden striker Ibrahimovic then wrapped up the victory 10 minutes later when he finished coolly after a superb run down the flank from Maicon.
The ninth consecutive Serie A victory breaks the club record that had lasted since the 1939-40 season.
Roma, beaten by Lazio in last week's derby, went all out to make up for that upset and attacked the Palermo goal from the word go.
However, they had to wait until a minute before half-time to open the score when Mancini hit home superbly from outside the box.
Captain Francesco Totti made it 2-0 for Roma from a 56th-minute penalty after Taddei was fouled inside the Palermo box and Man-cini scored his second of the match seven minutes from time.
Palermo had Simplicio sent off four minutes from time for a second yellow card and Totti completed the rout with Roma's fourth and his 11th of the season in stoppage time.
Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw at Livorno, a Cristiano Lucarelli goal cancelling out Goran Pandev's opener for the visitors. Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi was sent off on the hour for a late challenge. The heated match also brought eight bookings.
Lorenzo D'Anna grabbed a point for Chievo when he turned in Simone Tiribocchi's header in the second half after they had taken the lead through Andrea Zanchetta's 23rd-minute penalty.
In between, Parma striker Igor Budan and Daniele Dessena, with a superb strike from outside the area, netted either side of half-time to put the hosts ahead.
The draw does little to help the two sides in their relegation battles, with Parma remaining in the drop zone.
Alessandro Rosina bagged a brace, including a penalty and a last-minute strike, as visitors Torino overcame bottom side Ascoli.
Ascoli were not helped by Michelangelo Minieri being dismissed midway through the second half while Sasa Bjelanovic missed a penalty in stoppage time.
Torino's Marco Di Loreto was also sent off at the end.
Striker Fabio Quagliarella scored the only goal after 68 minutes with a fantastic strike as Sampdoria recorded their second away win of the season.
The home defeat keeps Reggina, who were deducted 11 points after a match-fixing scandal, second bottom.
On Saturday, Milan's Alberto Gilardino and Fiorentina's Adrian Mutu scored two goals each as their teams drew 2-2.
Gilardino's equaliser a minute from the end, earned a point for Carlo Ancelotti's side who nonetheless remain well outside the title race down in 14th place on just 14 points.
Serie A
Top scorers
11 goals - Totti (Roma)
9 goals - Riganò (Messina), Mutu (Fiorentina)
8 goals - Bianchi (Reggina), Iaquinta (Udinese), Spinesi (Catania), Amauri (Palermo)
Next fixtures
Wednesday - 8.30 p.m.
Atalanta vs Udinese
Cagliari vs Fiorentina
Chievo vs Reggina
Empoli vs Siena
Lazio vs Inter
Messina vs Parma
Milan vs Catania
Palermo vs Ascoli
Sampdoria vs Livorno
Torino vs Roma