Lazio took another bite out of Juve’s lead at the top of Serie A when they controversially beat Atalanta 2-0 yesterday after Sergio Floccari stopped the ball with his arm before scoring the opening goal.
Juventus, with 45 points from 20 games, drew 1-1 at Parma and have had their lead slashed from eight points to three by Lazio in two successive weekends after taking only one point from a possible six.
Atalanta greeted Lazio’s 67th-minute goal with furious protests after the ball hit the underside of the crossbar and rebounded past Floccari with replays showing he brought it under control with his right arm before firing home from close range.
Hapless Atalanta defender Davide Brivio scored an own goal with a diving header 10 minutes later to wrap up the points for Lazio while the visitors had Carlos Carmona sent off late on.
“It was without doubt accidental and the referee could have blown the whistle or not blown the whistle,” Lazio coach Vladimir Petkovic told reporters.
“The referee is there to decide, this one has gone in our favour and we have had lots go against us.”
Juventus also scored a controversial goal at Parma, taking the lead through an Andrea Pirlo free-kick deflected in by Jonathan Bia-biany and which the hosts believed should not have been awarded in the first place.
Juve’s Simone Padoin went down in a heap outside the area but replays suggested no contact had been made by a Parma player.
Nicola Sansone levelled for Parma, bursting past Martin Caceres to score with an angled shot and allow Roberto Donadoni’s team to maintain the only unbeaten home record in Serie A.
Third-placed Napoli also won, 3-0 against lowly Palermo, to stay two points behind Lazio and further liven up the title race.
A Christian Maggio header and a swerving shot by Gokhan Inler in a four-minute first-half spell put Napoli in command and Lorenzo Insigne completed the scoring midway through the second half.
Palermo, who have taken a dismal one point from their last six games, remained one place off the bottom.
Fiorentina, fifth with 35 points, and Roma both lost ground with defeats for the second weekend in a row as Milan were held to a goalless draw by Sampdoria in a lively evening match at the Marassi.
Antonio Di Natale, 35, scored twice to give Udinese a controversial 3-1 win over Fiorentina while a second-half goal from Alejandro Gomez gave Catania a 1-0 win over spectacularly erratic Roma.
Fiorentina took a 20th-minute lead when Gonzalo Rodriguez’s header bounced down off the underside off the crossbar, hit Udinese goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic and went into the net.
Brkic was taken off injured in the 40th minute but Udinese were awarded a dubious penalty in first-half stoppage time for an alleged foul on Maurizio Domizzi and, after several minutes of arguing by Fiorentina, Di Natale fired home from the spot.
The irrepressible Di Natale put Udinese ahead with his 14th goal of the season and Luis Muriel scored one minute later with a long-range effort.
Serie A
Cagliari 2
Sau 55; Conti 82;
Genoa 1
Pisano 48;
HT: 0-0. Att: 10,000.
Red card: Seymour (G) 83.
Catania 1
Gomez 61;
Roma 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 13,614.
Lazio 2
Floccari 67; Brivio 77og;
Atalanta 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 30,000.
Red card: Carmona (A) 83.
Napoli 3
Maggio 30; Inler 34; Insigne 72;
Palermo 0
HT: 2-0. Att: 25,000.
Parma 1
Sansone 78;
Juventus 1
Pirlo 52;
HT: 0-0. Att: 19,277.
Sampdoria 0
Milan 0
Att: 22,000.
Torino 3
Brighi 5; Bianchi 38; Cerci 45;
Siena 2
Reginaldo 32; Paolucci 76;
HT: 3-1. Att: 10,000.
Missed penalty: Rosina (S) 89.
Udinese 3
Di Natale 45p, 66; Muriel 67;
Fiorentina 1
Brkic 20 og;
HT: 1-1. Att: 20,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 20 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 41 | 14 | 45 |
| Lazio | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | 19 | 42 |
| Napoli (-2) | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 18 | 40 |
| Inter | 20 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 32 | 22 | 38 |
| Fiorentina | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 37 | 24 | 35 |
| Roma | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 43 | 34 | 32 |
| Milan | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 36 | 27 | 31 |
| Udinese | 20 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 32 | 27 | 30 |
| Parma | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 26 | 30 |
| Catania | 20 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 27 | 29 |
| Chievo | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 33 | 24 |
| Torino (-1) | 20 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 23 | 24 | 23 |
| Atalanta (-2) | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 18 | 30 | 22 |
| Bologna | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 25 | 26 | 21 |
| Samp (-1) | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 22 | 28 | 21 |
| Pescara | 20 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 37 | 20 |
| Cagliari | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 36 | 19 |
| Genoa | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 17 |
| Palermo | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 32 | 15 |
| Siena (-6) | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 19 | 31 | 11 |
Top scorers
16 goals: Cavani (Napoli).
14 goals: El Shaarawy (Milan), Di Natale (Udinese).
10 goals: Klose (Lazio), Lamela (Roma), Osvaldo (Roma).
Next fixtures
Tomorrow: Coppa Italia QF 21.00 Inter vs Bologna.
Wednesday: Coppa Italia QF 21.00 Fiorentina vs Roma.
Saturday: 18.00 Palermo vs Lazio. 20.45 Juventus vs Udinese.
Sunday: 12.30 Fiorentina vs Napoli. 15.00 Atalanta vs Cagliari; Chievo vs Parma; Genoa vs Catania; Milan vs Bologna; Pescara vs Torino; Siena vs Sampdoria. 20.45 Roma vs Inter.
Prima Divisione ‘A’
AlbinoLeffe vs Cremonese 1-1; Lecce vs Cuneo 2-0; Pavia vs SudTirol 2-1; Porto-gruaro vs Lumezzane 2-1; Trapani vs FeralpiSalo 4-1; Treviso vs Entella 0-0.
Leading standings: Lecce 34; Trapani 32; SudTirol, Carpi 30; Pavia 29; Entella 27; San Marino 25.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Avellino vs Carrarese 2-1; Catanzaro vs Latina 1-3; Frosinone vs Gubbio 2-0; Perugia vs Barletta 0-1; Pisa vs Andria
1-0; Sorrento vs Paganese 0-0; Viareggio vs Benevento 2-2.
Leading standings: Latina 36; Avellino 35; Frosinone 30; Pisa 27; Nocerina 26.