Udinese and Napoli missed the chance to move into the Champions League qualifying positions following a 2-2 draw in Udine last night

Lazio’s earlier 1-0 defeat at Catania meant that if either side had won, they would have gone third but instead the draw leaves them both a point behind the Romans.

Udinese will be ruing a missed opportunity having led 2-0 through goals from Giampiero Pinzi and Antonio Di Natale.

But after Diego Fabbrini was sent off, Edinson Cavani snatched a point with a brace whilst also missing a penalty.

Udinese have now won only one of their last seven league games while Napoli’s five-match winning run in Serie A came to an end.

The hosts took the lead on 28 minutes when Pinzi made a clever diagonal run to arrive free in the box to tap home Fabbrini’s right wing cross.

Di Natale then tapped home at the back post on 52 minutes after Pinzi’s header had come back off the bar.

Fabbrini was harshly sent off for a second booking on the hour mark after an innocuous clash with Hugo Campagnaro.

Maurizio Domizzi gave away a penalty for a handball but Cavani’s strike, hit hard and straight, came back off goalkeeper Samir Handanovic’s knee.

The visitors were on a roll, though, and Cavani left Handanovic rooted to the spot with a curling free-kick from 20 yards on 81 minutes.

And the Uruguay forward bagged a second with a fierce left foot drive that went in off the near post five minutes from time.

Lazio had much the better of their clash in Sicily but succumbed to Nicola Legrottaglie’s goal from a corner 10 minutes from time.

Catania moved level on points with Inter and Roma and are now securely in the battle for a European finish.

Inter failed to win for the eighth time in nine league games, as their hopes of playing in Europe next season took another hit following their 0-0 draw at home to Atalanta.

It was also the sixth time in those nine games they had failed to score and a fifth home league game in a row without a win.

With just 10 games left, they are six points behind the European qualification positions and seven off a Champions League finish.

Inter only had themselves to blame after Diego Milito missed a first half penalty.

Gianpaolo Bellini was adjudged to have brought down Giampaolo Pazzini in the box but Andrea Consigli kept out Milito’s spot-kick.

That was as close as Inter got to scoring in an uninspiring game in which their problems in front of goal were all too plain to see.

Serie A

Cagliari 3
Pinilla 14, 46 pen; Pinilla 56 pen;
Cesena 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 10,000.
Red cards: Colucci (Ce) 61; Rossi (Ce) 78.

Bologna 2
Di Vaio 59; Diamanti 80;
Chievo 2
Andreolli 26; Thereau 69;

HT: 0-1. Att: 17,446.

Catania 1
Legrottaglie 80;
Lazio 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 17,406.

Inter 0
Atalanta 0

Att: 38,619.
Missed penalty: Milito (I) 23.

Lecce 1
Di Michele 6 pen;
Palermo 1
Munoz 15;

HT: 1-1. Att: 8,400.
Red cards: Oddo (L) 17; Bertolo (P) 41.

Siena 0
Novara 2
Rigoni 72; Porcari 81;

HT: 0-0. Att: 9,891.

Udinese 2
Pinzi 28; Di Natale 52;
Napoli 2
Cavani 81, 85;

HT: 1-0. Att: 19,000.
Red card: Pasquale (U) 60.
Missed penalty: Cavani (N) 75.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Milan	28	18	6	4	57	22	60
Juventus	28	14	14	0	44	17	56
Lazio	28	14	6	8	42	34	48
Napoli	28	12	11	5	52	30	47
Udinese	28	13	8	7	39	26	47
Roma	27	12	5	10	40	33	41
Inter	28	12	5	11	38	36	41
Catania	28	10	11	7	36	35	41
Bologna	28	9	9	10	31	33	36
Palermo	28	10	5	13	40	45	35
Chievo	28	9	8	11	24	35	35
Atalanta	28	9	13	6	31	29	34
Cagliari	28	8	10	10	29	35	34
Genoa	27	9	6	12	35	48	33
Siena	28	8	8	12	32	30	32
Fiorentina	28	8	8	12	27	33	32
Parma	28	7	10	11	33	44	31
Lecce	28	6	8	14	31	45	26
Novara	28	5	8	15	24	46	23
Cesena	28	4	5	19	16	45	17

Playing today – 20.45
Roma vs Genoa (1-2)

Top scorers
20 goals: Ibrahimovic (Milan).
19 goals: Di Natale (Udinese).
18 goals: Cavani (Napoli).
15 goals: Denis (Atalanta).

Next fixtures
Tomorrow: Coppa Italia SF (second leg) 20.45 Juventus vs Milan.
Wednesday: Coppa Italia SF (second leg) 20.45 Napoli vs Siena.
Saturday: 18.00 Milan vs Roma. 20.45 Palermo vs Udinese.
Sunday: 12.30 Atalanta vs Bologna. 15.00 Cesena vs Parma; Chievo vs Siena; Genoa vs Fiorentina; Lazio vs Cagliari; Napoli vs Catania; Novara vs Lecce. 20.45 Juventus vs Inter.

Prima Divisione ‘A’
Avellino vs Foggia 4-0; Carpi vs Sorrento 1-0; Foligno vs Pro Vercelli 0-0; Pavia vs Ternana 0-0; Pisa vs Reggiana 2-1; Spal vs Monza 0-0; Taranto vs Benevento 1-1; Tritium vs Como 1-1; Viareggio vs Lumezzane 4-0.

Leading standings: Ternana 57; Taranto 50; Pro Vercelli 48; Carpi 47; Sorrento 43; Benevento 42; Avellino 38.

Prima Divisione ‘B’
Andria vs Latina 0-1; Carrarese vs Piacenza 2-2; FeralpiSalo vs Barletta 1-0; Frosinone vs Trapani 1-2; Pergocrema vs Triestina 0-0; Portogruaro vs Spezia 1-1; Prato vs Sud Tirol 2-3; Siracusa vs Bassano 2-2. Today (20.45 Lanciano vs Cremonese.

Leading standings: Trapani 53; Sira-cusa 45; Spezia 43; Pergocrema 40; Cremonese, Carrarese, SudTirol, Lanciano 39.