Fiorentina, two goals down and reduced to 10 men after Nenad Tomovic’s red card late in the first half, converted two quickfire penalties to draw 2-2 with Milan in Serie A yesterday while a 12-minute hat-trick by German Denis gave Atalanta a 4-3 win at a stunned Inter after they had trailed 3-1.

Inter were set to move above Fiorentina in the race for a Champions League place when Ricardo Alvarez scored twice in four minutes to put them 3-1 ahead, until his fellow Argentine Denis sprang into action on a day of drama and controversy.

Elsewhere, Josip Ilicic scored a memorable individual goal, beating four players in a run from the halfway line before firing past Sergio Romero, to give strugglers Palermo a 3-1 win at Sampdoria, their second successive win.

Antonio Di Natale scored twice in Udinese’s 3-1 win over Chievo, the first after goalkeeper Christian Puggioni made a hash of trying to dribble his way out of trouble and the second a magnificent volley from an almost impossible angle.

Napoli stayed nine points behind leaders Juventus in second place with a 2-0 win over Genoa thanks to first-half goals from Goran Pandev and Blerim Dzemaili while the Catania-Cagliari and Siena-Parma matches ended goalless.

Third-placed Milan (58 points) stayed six points ahead of fourth-placed Fiorentina (52) with Inter and Lazio, who face neighbours Roma tonight, two points further behind in the race for the Champions League qualifying round place.

The top two in Serie A qualify for the Champions League group stage and third place earns a place in the play-off round.

Juventus, 2-1 winners at home to Pescara on Saturday, have 71 points and Napoli 62.

Tommaso Rocchi put injury-plagued Inter ahead two minutes before half-time at the San Siro but the real drama came in the second half with six goals in 21 minutes.

Giacomo Bonaventura levelled in the 56th minute but Alvarez immediately put Inter back in front, pouncing on a loose ball, and struck again four minutes later with a superb solo goal.

Denis pulled one back with a 65th minute penalty, fired the equaliser six minutes later and volleyed the winner from close range in the 77th minute. There was still time for Atalanta’s Cristian Raimondi to be dismissed in stoppage time.

Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo scored 14 minutes into his return to Fiorentina, where he spent seven seasons.

The Italy man ignored the jeers from the crowd as he dispossessed David Pizarro 30 metres from goal and rolled the ball into the corner from the edge of the area.

“I didn’t expect an easy welcome, the fans pay to watch and they can do what they want,” Montolivo told reporters.

Serie A

Fiorentina 2
Ljajic 65 pen; Pizarro 73 pen;
Milan 2
Montolivo 14; Flamini 62;

HT: 0-1. Att: 40,303.
Red card: Tomovic (F) 38.

Catania 0
Cagliari 0

Att: 13,000.

Sampdoria 1
Munari 43;
Palermo 3
Von Bergen 35; Ilicic 50; Garcia 56;

HT: 1-1. Att: 23,000.

Siena 0
Parma 0

Att: 9,000.

Udinese 3
Di Natale 20, 25; Benatia 85;
Chievo 1
Papp 35;

HT: 2-1. Att: 16,000.

Inter 3
Rocchi 43; Alvarez 57, 61;
Atalanta 4
Bonaventura 56; Denis 65 pen, 70, 77;

HT: 1-0. Att: 38,935.
Red card: Raimondi (A) 90.

Napoli 2
Pandev 18; Dzemaili 29;
Genoa 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 40,000.
Missed penalty: Cavani (N) 65.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	31	22	5	4	61	20	71
Napoli	31	18	8	5	57	29	62
Milan	31	17	7	7	55	34	58
Fiorentina	31	15	7	9	56	39	52
Lazio	30	15	5	10	39	36	50
Inter	31	15	5	11	50	43	50
Roma	30	14	5	11	60	51	47
Catania	31	13	7	11	40	38	46
Udinese	31	11	12	8	41	39	45
Parma	31	10	9	12	39	39	39
Cagliari	31	10	9	12	37	49	39
Bologna	31	10	7	14	41	40	37
Atalanta (-2)	31	11	6	14	34	45	37
Sampdoria (-1)	31	10	7	14	36	38	36
Torino (-1)	31	8	13	10	39	43	36
Chievo	31	10	5	16	32	48	35
Siena (-6)	31	8	9	14	31	42	27
Palermo	31	5	12	14	28	44	27
Genoa	31	6	9	16	31	49	27
Pescara	31	6	3	22	22	63	21

Playing today
Roma vs Lazio - 20.45

Top scorers
22 goals: Cavani (Napoli).
17 goals: Di Natale (Udinese).
16 goals: El Shaarawy (Milan).
15 goals: Denis (Atalanta).

Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Pescara vs Siena; 20.45 Atalanta vs Fiorentina.
Sunday: 12.30 Palermo vs Bologna. 15.00 Cagliari vs Inter; Chievo vs Catania; Genoa vs Sampdoria; Parma vs Udinese; Torino vs Roma. 20.45 Milan vs Napoli.
Monday, April 15: 20.45 Lazio vs Juventus.

Prima Divisione ‘A’
Lumezzane vs AlbinoLeffe 1-2; Pavia vs Cremonese 2-1; Como vs Teviso 4-3; San Marino vs Cuneo 0-0; Tritium vs Reggiana 1-2; Portogruaro vs FeralpiSalo 1-1; Carpi vs Entella 3-1. Today (20.45) SudTirol vs Trapani.

Leading standings: Trapani 52; Lecce 51; SudTirol 45; Carpi 44; Entella 43; San Marino 42; FeralpiSalo 39; AlbinoLeffe, Pavia 37.

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

Leading standings: Avellino 54; Perugia 49; Latina, Nocerina 46; Benevento 41; Pisa 40; Frosinone 38.