Milan missed the chance to go third in the Serie A table after suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Palermo last night.
The Rossoneri would have dislodged Sampdoria from the final Champions League place with three points at the San Siro, but an early own goal from Cristian Zapata set the tone for an under-par display.
Paulo Dybala scored the Sicilians’ second goal, one that both assured promoted Palermo of a first away win of the season and lifted them six points clear of the relegation zone and into 13th place.
In the afternoon matches, Sergio Romero saved a penalty and Eder scored with a run from the halfway line as Sampdoria beat Fiorentina 3-1.
Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale scored his 199th Serie A goal, and the fastest of the season, although it was not enough for his side who lost 4-2 at home to flying Genoa.
Third-placed Sampdoria went ahead when defender Angelo Palombo converted a penalty in the 27th minute only for the same player to give one away five minutes later with a foul on Kouma Babacar.
However, Argentina goalkeeper Romero, who saved two penalties in the World Cup semi-final shoot-out against the Netherlands in summer, repeated the trick to deny compatriot Gonzalo Rodriguez.
Luca Rizzo increased Sampdoria’s lead with an individual goal before Stefan Savic headed one back for the visitors in first-half stoppage time.
Brazilian forward Eder made the game safe for Sampdoria when he burst past three defenders in a run from midfield and slid the ball under Norberto Neto.
Germany forward Mario Gomez came on in the second half for Fiorentina, his first appearance since suffering a thigh injury in September.
Sampdoria have 19 points from 10 games, one ahead of Genoa and Napoli.
Juventus lead with 25 points followed by Roma on 22.
Evergreen Di Natale, 37, scored after only 23 seconds when he ran onto Panagiotis Kone’s pass to beat goalkeeper Mattia Perin.
Genoa, who handed leaders Juventus their first league defeat of the season on Wednesday, equalised with a Giovanni Marchese volley and went ahead when Iago Falque pounced on dreadful defending to score from close range.
Udinese were level before half-time when Di Natale’s incisive through-ball set up Silvan Widmer to score with an angled drive.
Second-half goals from Alessandro Matri and Juraj Kucka gave Genoa the points while Di Natale was centimetres away from his 200th league goal when his shot shaved the post.
Rolando Maran picked up his first point as Chievo coach at the third attempt when they drew 0-0 at home to Sassuolo, while Torino’s match against Atalanta, who have scored only four goals all season, also ended goalless.
Serie A
Chievo 0
Sassuolo 0
Att: 5,500.
Milan 0
Palermo 2
Zapata 23og; Dybala 26;
HT: 0-2. Att: 28,272.
Sampdoria 3
Palombo 27p; Rizzo 43; Eder 78;
Fiorentina 1
Savic 45;
HT: 2-1. Att: 20,000.
Missed penalty: Rodriguez (F) 32.
Torino 0
Atalanta 0
Att: 16,000.
Udinese 2
Di Natale 1; Widmer 41; Matri 54; Kucka 87;
Genoa 4
Marchese 22; Flaque 25;
HT: 2-2. Att: 10,400.
Playing today
Cesena vs Verona - 19.00
Lazio vs Cagliari - 21.00
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 4 | 25 |
| Roma | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 6 | 22 |
| Sampdoria | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 19 |
| Napoli | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 12 | 18 |
| Genoa | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 18 |
| Lazio | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 16 |
| Milan | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 14 | 16 |
| Udinese | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 16 |
| Inter | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 15 |
| Fiorentina | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 13 |
| Verona | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 12 |
| Torino | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
| Palermo | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 12 |
| Sassuolo | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 11 |
| Cagliari | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 9 |
| Atalanta | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 9 |
| Empoli | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 7 |
| Parma | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 21 | 6 |
| Cesena | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 6 |
| Chievo | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 5 |
Top scorers
8 goals: Callejon (Napoli).
6 goals: Honda (Milan), Tevez (Juventus), Di Natale (Udinese).
5 goals: Djordjevic (Lazio), Cassano (Parma), Icardi (Inter), Higuain (Napoli), Matri (Genoa).
Next Serie A fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Sassuolo vs Atalanta. 20.45 Sampdoria vs Milan.
Sunday: 12.30 Cagliari vs Genoa. 15.00 Chievo vs Cesena; Empoli vs Lazio; Juve vs Parma; Palermo vs Udinese. 18.00 Fiorentina vs Napoli. 20.45 Inter vs Verona; Roma vs Torino.
Serie B
Latina vs Frosinone - 1-4
Varese vs Modena - 2-1
Lega Pro
Group A: Venezia vs Giana Erminio 2-1; Monza vs Lumezzane 3-0; Como vs Pordenone 3-1.
Group B: Savona vs Carrarese 1-0; Santarcangelo vs Pistoiese 3-0; Ascoli vs Pontedera 1-0; Tuttocuoio vs Ancona 0-2.
Group C: Benevento vs Vigo Lamezia 3-1; Messina vs Foggia 0-1; Reggina vs Aversa 1-1; Matera vs Salernitana 1-2; Lecce vs Cosenza 1-0.