Inter beat Palermo to regain six-point lead

Inter beat Palermo 2-1 at home yesterday to restore the champions' six-point lead at the top of Serie A after a troubled week.

Goals by Patrick Vieira and Luis Jimenez settled nerves at the club after coach Roberto Mancini said he was leaving at the end of the season following Tuesday's Champions League last 16 defeat by Liverpool. Mancini changed his mind the following day.

Inter have 67 points from 28 games, while second-placed Roma have 61 after coming from behind to beat Milan 2-1 on Saturday.

Fiorentina tightened their grip on fourth place, worth a slot in the Champions League qualifiers, with a 3-1 home win over Genoa to move four points ahead of fifth-placed Milan.

In the late kick-off, Juventus consolidated their third place with a 1-0 victory over Napoli in Turin.

Substitute Vincenzo Iaquinta scored the winner for Juve two minutes from time. Napoli gave away possession in midfield and Alessandro Del Piero released Iaquinta who fired home from inside the small box.

At the San Siro, France midfielder Vieira nodded in a perfectly weighted chip from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to put Inter in front in the fifth minute.

The Sicilian visitors equalised in the 25th when the second of two quick-fire Julio Cesar saves ricocheted off Marco Materazzi and into the goal.

Jimenez had the ball in the net two minutes later but his header from the rebound of a Vieira shot that hit the crossbar was disallowed for offside.

But Chile international Jimenez restored Inter's advantage in the 36th when he threw off a marker with some smart control with his heel before firing home the winner.

"They are three very important points because they come after what happened in the week and Roma's victory yesterday," Mancini said.

"We played a great first half, when we should have scored more than two goals. Our level of performance dropped a bit after the break but we didn't risk anything."

In Florence, Mario Santana volleyed the hosts in front after Adrian Mutu had set him up with a delightful lob. Mutu, returning from almost a month out with a knee injury, drilled in his 15th league goal of the season from the edge of the box on the half-hour mark.

Giampaolo Pazzini added a third before Uruguayan Matias Masiero pulled one back for Genoa in the closing stages.

Former Inter coach Hector Cuper started his stint at Parma with a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Livorno.