Napoli dealt Serie A rivals Juventus their second defeat of the season to help revive a humdrum title race following Roma’s victory earlier in the day.

The Bianconeri were unbeaten in 22 league games and cruising heading into last night’s game at the Stadio San Paolo but goals from Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens gave third-placed Napoli the 2-0 victory.

Rafael Benitez’s men may be a distant 17 points off the championship pace, yet Roma have a game in hand and could cut Juve’s lead to only eight points by beating Parma on Wednesday.

Roma trimmed the gap to the defending champions back to 11 points yesterday afternoon with a 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Sassuolo.

The Giallorossi took a half-time lead through Mattia Destro before Michel Bastos added a second deep into second-half stoppage time to ensure a fourth straight win for Rudi Garcia’s men.

Italian World Cup referee Nicola Rizzoli was involved in an extraordinary incident when he awarded a penalty and then changed his mind after five minutes of angry protests during Roma’s win at Sassuolo.

Rizzoli asked Sassuolo forward Nicola Sansone, the player who suffered the alleged foul, what had happened before making his final decision, according to Roma players.

Rizzoli initially awarded Sassuolo a penalty when Sansone went down under a seemingly innocuous challenge by Roma defender Mehdi Benatia in the 36th minute of the Serie A match.

Both teams protested the decision, with Roma angry over the penalty and Sassuolo claiming that Benatia should have been sent off.

Sassuolo had already put the ball on the spot and were preparing to take the kick when Rizzoli, after consulting his assistants, changed his mind and awarded a drop ball.

There were more protests at half-time as Sassuolo players again surrounded Rizzoli to protest the decision.

Serie A uses the additional assistant referees system preferred by UEFA with extra match officials on each goal line.

“The referee didn’t want to give the penalty but the goal-line official told him it was a penalty,' Benatia told Sky Sport Italia.

“He asked Sansone to tell him the truth, assuring that he would not get a yellow card (for diving). That made us a little angry, because you can’t ask that sort of thing to a player whose team are battling relegation.

“Sansone said that he slipped but that I had pulled his shirt and the referee decided not to give the penalty.”

Roma coach Rudi Garcia praised the referee’s handling of the incident.

“I think the referee did very well as he was the one who had to make the final decision,” the Frenchman told reporters.

“I think the goal line official told him it was a penalty, while Rizzoli asked the player to be honest. Honesty always pays off and I compliment the Sassuolo player.”

In the race for the Europa League spots, fourth-placed Fiorentina drew 0-0 at Sampdoria while sixth-placed Parma went down to a last-gasp goal at Lazio, who moved to within two points of their opponents with the 3-2 victory.

Italy winger Antonio Candreva decided the outcome with a stoppage-time strike.

Earlier, Parma forward Jonathan Biabiany had cancelled out Senad Lulic’s opener before Michael Ciani’s own-goal brought the visitors level once again following Miroslav Klose’s second-half effort.

Luca Toni scored twice as 10-man Verona snapped a run of four straight Serie A defeats with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Genoa – despite playing half the match with a man less.

Verona had not won – or scored – since beating Livorno on February 23 to drop down to 10th, but they ended that run thanks to Marco Donadel’s first-half goal and Toni’s late brace.

Toni’s goals came despite the fact Verona had been playing with 10 men since Michaelangelo Albertazzi’s dismissal on the stroke of half-time.

Also yesterday, 10th-placed Torino took full advantage of Cagliari’s woeful away record to claim a 2-1 triumph.

Goals in either half from Omar El Kaddouri and Alessio Cerci set up Torino’s win, before Nene grabbed a rare away goal for Cagliari.

The Sardinians have not won away in Serie A since February last year – a run of 21 games – and their arrival was welcomed by a Torino side that had seen their European ambitions falter after five defeats in their past six games.

Results

Serie A

Sassuolo 0
Roma 2
Destro 16; Bastos 90;

HT: 0-1. Att: 12,000.

Lazio 3
Lulic 15; Klose 67; Candreva 90;
Parma 2
Biabiany 26; Ciani 81 og;

HT: 1-1. Att: 33,000.

Napoli 2
Callejon 37; Mertens 81;
Juventus 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 42,000.

Sampdoria 0
Fiorentina 0

Att: 22,000.

Torino 2
El Kaddouri 45; Cerci 71;
Cagliari 1
Nene 77;

HT: 1-0. Att: 17,000.

Verona 3
Donadel 35; Toni 89, 90;
Genoa 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 21,000.
Red card: Albertazzi (V) 45.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	31	26	3	2	67	22	81
Roma	30	21	7	2	58	15	70
Napoli	31	19	7	5	59	32	64
Fiorentina	31	15	7	9	49	33	52
Inter	30	12	12	6	47	31	48
Parma	30	12	11	7	49	37	47
Atalanta	31	14	4	13	37	39	46
Lazio	31	12	9	10	40	40	45
Verona	31	13	4	14	46	52	43
Torino	31	11	9	11	45	40	42
Milan	31	11	9	11	47	43	42
Sampdoria	31	11	8	12	40	43	41
Genoa	31	10	9	12	34	39	39
Udinese	30	10	5	15	33	42	35
Cagliari	31	7	11	13	29	41	32
Chievo	31	7	6	18	26	46	27
Bologna	31	5	11	15	24	48	26
Livorno	30	6	6	18	32	56	24
Sassuolo	31	5	6	20	29	61	21
Catania	30	4	8	18	23	54	20

Playing today
Udinese vs Catania - 19.00
Livorno vs Inter -  21.00

Top scorers
18 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
17 goals: Immobile (Torino).
15 goals: Toni (Verona).
14 goals: Rossi (Fiorentina), Higuain (Napoli).

Next fixtures
Wednesday: 18.30 Roma vs Parma.
Saturday: 18.00 Chievo vs Verona; 20.45 Inter vs Bologna.
Sunday: 12.30 Lazio vs Sampdoria. 15.00 Atalanta vs Sassuolo; Cagliari vs Roma; Catania vs Torino; Fiorentina vs Udinese. 20.45 Parma vs Napoli.
Monday, April 7: 19.00 Juventus vs Livorno; 21.00 Genoa vs Milan.

Serie B
Crotone vs Ternana - 1-1

Prima Divisione ‘B’
Barletta vs Benevento 1-6; Paganese vs Grosseto 0-2; L’Aquila vs Pontedera 0-2; Catanzaro vs Gubbio 1-1; Ascoli vs Perugia 0-1; Pisa vs Prato 5-0; Frosinone vs Salernitana 2-2.

Standings: Frosinone 59; Perugia 56; Lecce 55; Catanzaro 47; L’Aquila, Pisa 46; Benevento, Pontedera 43; Salernitana 42; Grosseto 40; Prato, Gubbio 36; Viareggio 27; Barletta, Ascoli 21; Paganese 13.