Alessandro Florenzi’s perfectly-executed bicycle kick inspired second-placed Roma to a 4-0 win over Genoa in Serie A yesterday although it did them little good as rampant leaders Juventus won their 11th league game in a row.

The champions survived a difficult opening half-hour and had goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to thank as they came from behind to win 4-1 at Cagliari and set a new club record for the number of successive league wins.

Cagliari forward Mauricio Pinilla scored and was later sent off for the Sardinians while Fernando Llorente scored twice for Juventus who have only dropped five points this season.

Third-placed Napoli also won comfortably, beating Verona 3-0 away with goals from Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Blerim Dzemaili.

Fiorentina, sorely missing Serie A top-scorer Giuseppe Rossi with another knee injury, lost ground in a goalless draw at Torino.

At the halfway point in the championship, Juventus have 52 points from 19 games, Roma 44 and Napoli 42, while Fiorentina, still waiting for striker Mario Gomez to recover from a knee injury, are a further five behind in fourth.

Florenzi’s opening 25th-minute goal for Roma, who lost their unbeaten league record at Juventus the week before, was the day’s highlight and not even the player seemed to believe it as he ran to the touchline with his hands on his head.

Genoa appeared to have survived the danger when a Francesco Totti free-kick hit the wall but a defender lofted the ball into the area and Florenzi, with his back to goal, met it with a majestic overhead shot which went in off the foot of the post.

Roma stalwart Totti added the second with a deflected shot on the half hour, Maicon finished off a counter-attack two minutes before the break for the third and defender Mehdi Benatia completed the scoring early in the second half.

Genoa’s misery was completed with a bizarre sending-off for midfielder Matuzalem, who was given a second yellow card for gesturing to Roma fans as he was being substituted.

Juve fell behind when Pinilla scored from close range in the 21st minute. Buffon then turned another effort by the Chilean around the post and Daniele Conti headed over the bar.

Llorente equalised when he headed in Stephan Lichtsteiner’s cross in the 31st minute, then Buffon made another outstanding save to block Daniele Dessena’s diving header.

Juventus settled the game in the last 20 minutes when Claudio Marchisio scored with a 25-metre shot, Llorente finished off a counter-attack and Lichtsteiner pounced on a blunder by goalkeeper Antonio Adan for the fourth.

It was all too much for Pinilla, who was sent off for dissent.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte was delighted after his team kept up their winning run. “It’s an extraordinary achievement, given that in the history of Juventus, it had never been done before despite all the great teams we have,” he said.

Milan’s turbulent season continued last night when they surrendered a two-goal lead in a 4-3 defeat at strugglers Sassuolo.

Domenico Berardi had a memorable match as the striker, on loan from Juventus, scored Sassuolo’s four goals in a 32-minute spell.

Milan, 11th with 22 points, had started brightly after Robinho and Mario Balotelli gave them a 2-0 lead after 13 minutes but Massimiliano Allegri’s team then suffered an incredible collapse.

Late in the game, Riccardo Montolivo pulled one back for Milan whose new signing, Keisuke Honda, made his debut in the second half.

Serie A

Atalanta 2
Denis 67 pen; Moralez 86;
Catania 1
Leto 89;

HT: 0-0. Att: 14,000.

Cagliari 1
Pinilla 21;
Juventus 4
Llorente 31, 77; Marchisio 73; Lichtsteiner 80;

HT: 1-1. Att: 6,000.
Red card: Pinilla (C) 87.

Roma 4
Florenzi 25; Totti 30; Maicon 43; Benatia 52;
Genoa 0

HT: 3-0. Att: 40,000.
Red card: Matuzalem (G) 61.

Sassuolo 4
Berardi 15, 28; Berardi 41, 47;
Milan 3
Robinho 9; Balotelli 13; Montolivo 86;

HT: 3-2. Att: 12,000.

Torino 0
Fiorentina 0

Att: 16,000.

Verona 0
Napoli 3
Mertens 27; Insigne 72; Dzemaili 77;

HT: 0-1. Att: 20,000.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	19	17	1	1	46	12	52
Roma	19	13	5	1	39	10	44
Napoli	19	13	3	3	41	20	42
Fiorentina	19	11	4	4	34	20	37
Verona	19	10	2	7	34	30	32
Inter	18	8	7	3	37	22	31
Parma	19	6	8	5	29	26	26
Torino	19	6	8	5	31	27	26
Lazio	19	6	6	7	23	26	24
Genoa	19	6	5	8	19	24	23
Milan	19	5	7	7	31	30	22
Cagliari	19	4	9	6	19	28	21
Atalanta	19	6	3	10	20	29	21
Udinese	18	6	2	10	18	25	20
Sampdoria	18	4	6	8	19	27	18
Sassuolo	19	4	5	10	21	41	17
Chievo	18	4	4	10	13	23	16
Bologna	19	3	7	9	17	33	16
Livorno	19	3	4	12	16	33	13
Catania	19	3	4	12	13	34	13

Playing today
Sampdoria vs Udinese - 19.00
Inter vs Chievo - 21.00

Top scorers
14 goals: Rossi (Fiorentina).
11 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
10 goals: Palacio (Inter).
9 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Cerci (Torino), Toni (Verona), Immobile (Torino).

Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Roma vs Livorno. 20.45 Juventus vs Sampdoria.
Sunday: 12.30 Udinese vs Lazio. 15.00 Atalanta vs Cagliari; Bologna vs Napoli; Catania vs Fiorentina; Chievo vs Parma; Genoa vs Inter; Sassuolo vs Torino. 20.45 Milan vs Verona.

Prima Divisione ‘A’
Savona vs Pavia 1-0; SudTirol vs Albinoleffe 2-0; Entella vs Carrarese 3-0; Pro Patria vs Pro Vercelli 0-0; Vicenza vs Como 0-1; FeralpiSalo vs Cremonese 0-2; San Marino vs Reggiana 2-2; Lumezzane vs Venezia 1-2.

Leading standings: Entella 37; Pro Vercelli 33; Savona, Venezia 29; Cremonese 28; Como 27.

Prima Divisione ‘B’
L’ Aquila vs Lecce 0-1; Frosinone vs Pisa 1-0; Barletta vs Ascoli 1-0; Gubbio vs Perugia 0-5; Benevento vs Grosseto 3-2; Pontedera vs Paganese 1-1; Nocerina vs Viareggio 1-0; Catanzaro vs Prato 0-0.

Leading standings: Perugia 38; Frosinone 36; Catanzaro, Lecce 30; Benevento, L’ Aquila 28; Pisa 27.