Edinson Cavani struck again to give Napoli a late 2-1 win at Parma and breathe new life into their Serie A challenge yesterday while Argentine teenager Mauro Icardi hit four goals in Sampdoria’s 6-0 rout of lowly Pescara.
Cavani had endured a frustrating afternoon until he hit his 18th goal of the season in the 85th minute to end Parma’s unbeaten home record and leave Napoli three points behind leaders Juventus, who drew 1-1 with Genoa on Saturday.
Roma lived up to their reputation as Serie A’s most entertaining side in another high-scoring game, this time drawing 3-3 at Bologna.
Eighth-placed Roma, who have the best attacking and second-worst defensive record in the league, twice led in the first half and trailed 3-2 early in the second before Panagiotis Tachtsidis gave them a point.
Stephan El Shaarawy scored his 15th goal of the season to hand Milan a 1-0 win at 10-man Atalanta, moving them up to fifth place with 37 points.
Milan are one point ahead of fading Fiorentina, who lost 2-1 to an 88th-minute Lucas Castro goal at Catania, and three behind Inter who continued to misfire badly at the San Siro after a 2-2 draw with mid-table side Torino in the late kick-off.
Thiago Ribeiro headed a controversial 90th-minute equaliser for Cagliari in a 1-1 draw at home to Palermo in their relegation battle.
Palermo, one off the bottom in 19th place, were furious, claiming the throw-in in the run-up to Cagliari’s goal should have been awarded to them.
Fabrizio Miccoli and coach Gian Piero Gasperini were sent off for protesting from the substitutes’ bench.
Second-placed Napoli’s victory at Parma took them to 46 points from 22 games, three behind Juventus and three clear of Lazio who lost at home to Chievo on Saturday.
“Parma are a great side who work hard and never give up,” Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri said.
“We are extremely satisfied with this fundamental victory. We are going way beyond expectations but we must also remember that every game in Italy is truly complicated.”
Napoli went ahead in the 20th minute when Marek Hamsik sprang the offside trap to poke the ball past Antonio Mirante.
Uruguay forward Cavani was having little joy as he misplaced a header and then mistimed a run on to a through-ball which would have left him with only Mirante to beat just before the break.
Napoli conceded a sloppy equaliser in the 74th minute when Nicola Sansone’s cross deflected off Paolo Cannavaro and found its way between Morgan De Sanctis and the near post.
Cavani wasted another chance when he scuffed a shot after being set free but made amends two minutes later when he broke clear of the Parma defender, easily rounded Mirante and scored into an empty net.
An Eder penalty opened the floodgates for Sampdoria just after the half hour and Icardi opened his account four minutes before half-time.
Pedro Obiang scored five minutes after the break before Icardi grabbed a 16-minute hat-trick, to add to his two goals in the 2-1 win over Juventus earlier in the month.
Serie A
Atalanta 0
Milan 1
El Shaarawy 29;
HT: 0-1. Att: 19,232.
Red card: Brivio (A) 58.
Bologna 3
Gilardino 17; Gabbiadini 26; Pasquato 54;
Roma 3
Florenzi 9; Osvaldo 18; Tachtsidis 74;
HT: 2-2. Att: 19,054.
Cagliari 1
Ribeiro 90;
Palermo 1
Ilicic 30;
HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.
Red card: Miccoli (P) 90+1.
Catania 2
Legrottaglie 50; Castro 88;
Fiorentina 1
Migliaccio 22;
HT: 0-1. Att: 15,000.
Red card: Aquilani (F) 78.
Inter 2
Chivu 5; Cambiasso 67;
Torino 2
Meggiorini 23, 52;
HT: 1-1. Att: 44,000.
Parma 1
Cannavaro 74og;
Napoli 2
Hamsik 20; Cavani 85;
HT: 0-1. Att: 16,087.
Sampdoria 6
Eder 31 pen; Icardi 42,56,58,71; Obiang 50;
Pescara 0
HT: 2-0. Att: 22,253
Udinese 1
Muriel 36;
Siena 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 20,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 46 | 15 | 49 |
| Napoli | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 43 | 20 | 46 |
| Lazio | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 22 | 43 |
| Inter | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 35 | 25 | 40 |
| Milan | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 28 | 37 |
| Fiorentina | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 39 | 27 | 36 |
| Catania | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 28 | 35 |
| Roma | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 47 | 38 | 34 |
| Udinese | 22 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 33 | 31 | 33 |
| Parma | 22 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 31 |
| Chievo | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 34 | 28 |
| Torino (-1) | 22 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 27 | 26 | 27 |
| Sampdoria (-1) | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 28 | 29 | 24 |
| Atalanta (-2) | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 32 | 23 |
| Bologna | 22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 29 | 31 | 22 |
| Cagliari | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 38 | 21 |
| Pescara | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 17 | 45 | 20 |
| Genoa | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 35 | 18 |
| Palermo | 22 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 35 | 17 |
| Siena (-6) | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 14 |
Top scorers
18 goals: Cavani (Napoli)
15 goals: El Shaarawy (Milan)
14 goals: Di Natale (Udinese)
11 goals: Osvaldo (Roma)
10 goals: Klose (Lazio), Pazzini (Milan), Lamela (Roma).
Next fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Roma vs Cagliari.
Saturday: 18.00 Torino vs Sampdoria; 20.45 Napoli vs Catania.
Sunday: 12.30 Chievo vs Juventus. 15.00 Fiorentina vs Parma; Genoa vs Lazio; Palermo vs Atalanta; Pescara vs Bologna; Siena vs Inter. 20.45 Milan vs Udinese.
Serie B
Playing today
Juve Stabia vs Brescia - 20.45
Standings
Sassuolo 51; Livorno 48; Verona 46; Varese (-1) 36; Empoli (-1) 33; Modena (-2) 32; Ascoli (-1), Padova (-2), Brescia 31; Cittadella, Juve Stabia 30; Spezia, Ternana 28; Crotone (-2), Novara (-4), Lanciano 25; Bari (-7), Cesena, Reggina (-2) 24; Vicenza 19; Pro Vercelli 16; Grosseto (-6) 14.