Juventus’s hopes of dropping Inter virtually out of the Serie A title race suffered a setback after the champions went down to a shock 2-1 home defeat to Sampdoria yesterday.

Inter had been stunned 3-0 by Udinese in the day’s early match, handing Juventus the chance to take their lead over the Nerazzurri – widely considered Juve’s main title rivals – to a massive 12 points.

But after Sebastian Giovinco had given the Bianconeri a 24th-minute lead from the penalty spot, the hosts were hit by a double from Argentine striker Emanuel Icardi in the 52nd and 68th minutes as Sampdoria came fighting back despite the early dismissal of Gaetano Berardi.

At the halfway stage champions Juventus, on 44 points, now have a five-point lead over Lazio, who had secured a late 2-1 win over Cagliari on Saturday when the visitors’ striker Victor Ibarbo fell victim to racist monkey chants.

Fiorentina had hoped to close the gap to Lazio to one point, as well as further distance fourth-placed Inter, only to suffer a shock 2-0 defeat at home to visiting Pescara.

La Viola finished the day in fourth place after Napoli moved up two places to third thanks to a superb 4-1 win over Roma at the San Paolo.

Napoli’s 12th win of the campaign came largely courtesy of an Edinson Cavani hat-trick, which put the Uruguayan on 16 league goals and two clear of Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy (14) at the top of the scoring charts.

Juve coach Antonio Conte admitted his team’s showing was one to forget: “It wasn’t a performance we will look back on fondly.

“But we’re human, not Martians and we’ve had problems with injuries and some players not being in top condition.”

Milan, who hit the headlines midweek after midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng led his team off the pitch during a friendly to protest racist chants from fans of fourth division side Pro Patria, secured a precious 2-1 win at home to Siena.

Milan were whistled off the pitch after a scoreless first half, but Boateng provided the cross for substitute Bojan Krkic to head their opener just midway into the second half.

Giampaolo Pazzini stepped up to convert a penalty in the final 10 minutes, but Michele Paolucci made it a nervy finish for Massimiliano Allegri’s men at the San Siro when he reduced arrears in the closing minutes.

“It was a two-faced win,” said Allegri. “A bad first half and a good second. We didn’t create much in the first half but we didn’t concede much either. We deserved the win in the second half.”

Milan held on to remain in seventh and sit two points behind Roma, who were already trailing by two goals (3-1) when Miralem Pjanic saw red for a rash challenge, only two minutes after Pablo Osvaldo had reduced arrears in last night’s defeat to Napoli.

Elsewhere, Chievo secured a precious 1-0 win over Atalanta to leapfrog the Bergamo side into 11th while Genoa moved away from the relegation zone thanks to a Marco Borriello double in a 2-0 win over Bologna.

Parma moved up to eigthh after Amauri’s winner in injury time sealed a 2-1 win over Palermo, who had levelled Ishak Belfodil’s opener for the hosts thanks to Igor Budan’s 85th-minute header.

Serie A

Chievo 1
Cofie 37;
Atalanta 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 9,000.

Fiorentina 0
Pescara 2
Jonathas 57; Celik 90;

HT: 0-0. Att: 23,795.

Genoa 2
Borriello 57, 73;
Bologna 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 17,000.
Red card: Guarente (B) 90.

Juventus 1
Giovinco 24 pen;
Sampdoria 2
Icardi 52, 69;

HT: 1-0. Att: 40,000.
Red card: Berardi (S) 32.

Milan 2
Bojan 67; Pazzini 80 pen;
Siena 1
Paolucci 87;

HT: 0-0. Att: 30,404.

Napoli 4
Cavani 4, 48, 70; Maggio 90;
Roma 1
Osvaldo 72

HT: 1-0. Att: 50,000.
Red card: Pjanic (R) 75.

Parma 2
Belfodil 63; Amauri 90;
Palermo 1
Budan 85;

HT: 0-0. Att: 10,659.

Udinese 3
Di Natale 63,79; Muriel 75;
Inter 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 23,000.
Red card: Juan Jesus (I) 65.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	19	14	2	3	40	13	44
Lazio	19	12	3	4	28	19	39
Napoli (-2)	19	12	3	4	37	18	37
Fiorentina	19	10	5	4	36	21	35
Inter	19	11	2	6	30	22	35
Roma	19	10	2	7	43	33	32
Milan	19	9	3	7	36	27	30
Parma	19	8	5	6	27	25	29
Udinese	19	6	9	4	29	26	27
Catania	19	7	5	7	26	27	26
Chievo	19	7	3	9	21	29	24
Atalanta (-2)	19	7	3	9	18	28	22
Torino (-1)	19	4	9	6	20	22	20
Sampdoria (-1)	19	6	3	10	22	28	20
Pescara	19	6	2	11	17	35	20
Bologna	19	5	3	11	21	26	18
Genoa	19	4	5	10	20	30	17
Cagliari	19	4	4	11	17	35	16
Palermo	19	3	6	10	16	29	15
Siena (-6)	19	4	5	10	17	28	11

Top scorers
16 goals: Cavani (Napoli).
14 goals: El Shaarawy (Milan).
12 goals: Di Natale (Udinese).
10 goals: Klose (Lazio); Lamela, Osvaldo (both Roma).

Next fixtures
Tomorrow: Coppa Italia quarter-final 21.00 Lazio vs Catania.
Wednesday: Coppa Italia quarter-final 20.45 Juventus vs Milan.
Saturday: 18.00 Bologna vs Chievo. 20.45 Inter vs Pescara.
Sunday: 12.30 Torino vs Siena. 15.00 Lazio vs Atalanta; Cagliari vs Genoa; Catania vs Roma; Napoli vs Palermo; Parma vs Juventus; Udinese vs Fiorentina. 20.45 Sampdoria vs Milan.

Prima Divisione ‘A’
Carpi vs Trapani 1-3; Cremonese vs Lecce 1-1; Cuneo vs Treviso 0-0; FeralpiSalo vs Pavia 0-3; Lumezzane vs Reggiana 2-0; San Marino vs Como 3-0; SudTirol vs AlbinoLeffe 1-1; Entella vs Tritium 2-0.

Leading standings: Lecce 31; Carpi, SudTirol 30; Trapani 29; Entella, Pavia 26; Lumezzane, Cuneo 23.

Prima Divisione ‘B’
Andria vs Nocerina 0-1; Barletta vs Catanzaro 0-1; Benevento vs Perugia 0-1; Carrarese vs Frosinone 0-1; Gubbio vs Sorrento 1-2; Paganese vs Viareggio 1-1; Prato vs Avellino 0-3.

Leading standings: Avellino 32; Frosinone, Latina 27; Nocerina 26; Perugia, Pisa 24; Prato, Viareggio, Gubbio 22; Paganese, Catanzaro 21.