Lazio moved up to second place in Serie A after a 1-0 win at Sampdoria yesterday helped them leapfrog Inter, who could only draw 1-1 at home to Genoa.
Hernanes’s goal, half-an-hour into a scrappy match with struggling Samp, sent Vladimir Petkovic’s team up to 36 points, eight behind champions and league leaders Juventus, who won 3-1 against Cagliari on Friday.
“We worked hard for this, in the last month we have started to believe that we can do something important,” Lazio coach Vladimir Petkovic said.
But Petkovic said his side still needed to improve if they were to challenge Juventus for the title.
“We are doing better and better, we are more and more convincing, and some players are coming into form. We are doing well, but not well enough to compete with Juve,” he said.
Andrea Stramaccioni’s Inter dropped to fourth place after Esteban Cambiasso’s equaliser five minutes from time cancelled out Ciro Immobile’s superb individual goal for second bottom Genoa.
The result left Inter nine points off the top going into the Italian mid-season break.
“Today the result wasn’t positive but I have to compliment the team, we’re in a strange period,” Stramaccioni said. “The break is coming at a good time, now we’re going to take our minds off things and come back stronger.”
Two Stevan Jovetic goals either side of half-time and a second penalty from Gonzalo Rodriguez were enough for Fiorentina to win 3-0 at troubled Palermo.
Vincenzo Montella’s dark horses moved above Inter into third, on the same points as the Nerazzurri and one behind Lazio.
Napoli, who were docked two points in midweek for the involvement of their players in a betting and match-fixing scandal from 2010, scored two goals in the last five minutes in a 2-0 win at bottom club Siena.
Christian Maggio netted before Edinson Cavani converted from the spot.
Walter Mazzarri’s side were far from their thrilling best but stay in fifth and within two points of Lazio, putting pressure on the other challengers for the Champions League places.
German Denis’s 40th-minute penalty, his seventh goal of the season for Atalanta, helped the hosts draw 1-1 with Udinese, who had taken the lead seven minutes previously through Luis Muriel.
Torino comfortably saw off Chievo 2-0 while Frederik Sorensen’s goal for Bologna nine minutes into the second half was cancelled out by Jaime Valdes two minutes later before Nicola Sansone netted on 66 minutes to give Parma a 2-1 away win.
The weekend’s big game took place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome in the late kick-off, where Roma halted Milan’s charge up the table with a 4-2 win.
Roma were all over Milan in the opening half scoring three times through Nicolas Burdisso, Pablo Osvaldo and Erik Lamela.
The hosts looked to be cruising when Lamela put them 4-0 up on the hour but Milan struck twice after Marquinhos was sent off.
Giampaolo Pazzini, from a penalty, and Bojan, formerly of Roma, were on target for Milan.
Serie A
Atalanta 1
Denis 40 pen;
Udinese 1
Muriel 33;
HT: 1-1. Att: 16,000.
Bologna 1
Sorensen 54;
Parma 2
Valdes 56; Sansone 66;
HT: 0-0. Att: 16,772.
Inter 1
Cambiasso 85;
Genoa 1
Immobile 77;
HT: 0-0. Att: 40,695.
Palermo 0
Fiorentina 3
Jovetic 50, 83 pen; Rodriguez 89 pen;
HT: 0-0. Att: 14,562.
Sampdoria 0
Lazio 1
Hernanes 31;
HT: 0-1. Att: 21,123.
Roma 4
Burdisso 13; Osvaldo 23; Lamela 30, 60;
Milan 2
Pazzini 87 pen; Bojan 88;
HT: 3-0. Att: 43,000.
Red card: Marquinhos (R) 78.
Siena 0
Napoli 2
Maggio 86; Cavani 90 pen;
HT: 0-0. Att: 9,489.
Red card: Calaio (S) 90+1.
Torino 2
Sardo 12 og; Gazzi 26;
Chievo 0
HT: 2-0. Att: 12,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 18 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 11 | 44 |
| Lazio | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 26 | 18 | 36 |
| Fiorentina | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 36 | 19 | 35 |
| Inter | 18 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 19 | 35 |
| Napoli (-2) | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 17 | 34 |
| Roma | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 42 | 29 | 32 |
| Milan | 18 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 34 | 26 | 27 |
| Parma | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 24 | 26 |
| Catania | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 27 | 25 |
| Udinese | 18 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 26 | 26 | 24 |
| Atalanta (-2) | 18 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 27 | 22 |
| Chievo | 18 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 21 |
| Torino (-1) | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 19 |
| Bologna | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 24 | 18 |
| Sampdoria (-1) | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 27 | 17 |
| Pescara | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 35 | 17 |
| Cagliari | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 33 | 16 |
| Palermo | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 15 |
| Genoa | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 30 | 14 |
| Siena (-6) | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 11 |
Top scorers
14 goals: El Shaarawy (Milan).
13 goals: Cavani (Napoli).
10 goals: Klose (Lazio), Lamela (Roma).
9 goals: Di Natale (Udinese), Osvaldo (Roma).
Next fixtures
January 5: 18.00 Catania vs Torino. 20.45 Lazio vs Cagliari.
January 6: 12.30 Udinese vs Inter. 15.00 Chievo vs Atalanta; Fiorentina vs Pescara; Genoa vs Bologna; Juventus vs Sampdoria; Milan vs Siena; Parma vs Palermo. 20.45 Napoli vs Roma.
Serie B
Playing today – 15.00
Brescia vs Livorno
Cesena vs Bari - 12.30
Cittadella vs Empoli
Crotone vs Varese
Grosseto vs Reggina
Novara vs Pro Vercelli - 18.00
Sassuolo vs Lanciano
Spezia vs Padova
Ternana vs Ascoli
Verona vs Juve Stabia
Vicenza vs Modena
Leading standings: Sassuolo 45; Livorno 42; Verona 36; Varese (-1) 29; Modena (-2), Empoli (-1), Cittadella 28; Brescia 27; Juve Stabia, Padova (-2) 26; Spezia 25; Ternana, Ascoli (-1) 21.