Mauro Icardi gave Inter a point from last night’s Derby d’Italia but the 1-1 draw leaves Juventus vulnerable to predators in the Serie A title race.

The Bianconeri had earlier watched Roma moving level with them at the top of the table following a 1-0 victory at Udinese and set about making amends through Carlos Tevez and his early goal in Turin.

But Inter grew into the game after the break and might even have built on Icardi’s equaliser had Mateo Kovacic’s dismissal not upset their rhythm in what were frantic final exchanges.

The point gave the Bianconeri control of first place for the time being but rivals Roma show no signs of easing off in their quest to win a first Scudetto since 2001.

Roma had edged Udinese at the Stadio Friuli to match Juve at the top for a few hours.

Davide Astori headed in the only goal of the game, with the Roma defender’s effort hitting the crossbar and ruled to have fallen inside the line before bouncing out.

Napoli followed up their Super Coppa victory over Juve with a convincing 4-1 win over bottom side Cesena at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi.

Rafael Benitez guided his side to a penalty shoot-out triumph over the reigning champions shortly before Christmas and on their return to league action they were dominant.

Goals from Jose Callejon and Gonzalo Higuain put Cesena under the cosh and, after the break, they were unable to resist as Marek Hamsik hit a third before Higuain converted his second.

Cesena, who are seven points shy of safety, did pull a goal back through Franco Brienza.

Milan were handed a stark reminder of how much work they still have to do after Sassuolo claimed a 2-1 victory at San Siro.

Filippo Inzaghi’s men are targeting the European places and Andrea Poli put them on the right track in the early exchanges.

But Sassuolo fought back, with goals from Gianluca Sansone and Simone Zaza turning the game around.

The surprise result leaves Milan in seventh place while Sassuolo climb into the top half.

Gianfranco Zola endured a difficult start to life as the new coach of Cagliari in the shape of a 5-0 defeat at Palermo.

Cagliari, who lost captain Daniele Conti to a first-half red card, trailed 3-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Michel Morganella, Ezequiel Munoz and Paulo Dybala.

Dybala struck his second of the afternoon before Edgar Barreto capped a wonderful start to 2015 for the Sicilian club by scoring his team’s fifth.

Parma win

Parma picked up only their third win of the season, denying wasteful Fiorentina a place in the top six with a 1-0 victory at the Stadio Tardini.

Andrea Costa scored the only goal of the game to earn Roberto Donadoni’s men a much-needed victory which lifted them above Cesena and off the foot of the table.

Fiorentina’s defeat was compounded by red cards for Gonzalo Rodriguez and Stefan Savic.

Genoa recovered from going two goals behind to pick up a point from a 2-2 draw with Atalanta at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Davide Zappacosta’s first goal in Serie A and a Maximiliano Moralez effort put the Nerazzurri in command.

Iago Falque pulled a goal back from the penalty spot before Alessandro Matri netted his first goal at the Marassi to earn the high-flying hosts a point.

Elsewhere, Empoli held Verona to a goalless draw at the Stadio Carlo Castellani to extend their unbeaten run to six games.

Chievo and Torino shared the spoils from another uneventful 0-0 draw.

Serie A

Played yesterday

Cesena 1
Brienza 75;
Napoli 4
Callejon 29; Higuain 41,72; Hamsik 64;

HT: 0-2. Att: 16,275.

Chievo 0
Torino 0

Att: 5,500.

Empoli 0
Verona 0

Att: 4,799.
Red cards: Tonelli (E) 65; Hallfredsson (V) 77.

Genoa 2
Falque 51 pen.; Matri 69;
Atalanta 2
Zappacosta 37; Moralez 49;

HT: 0-1. Att: 22,000.

Juventus 1
Tevez 5;
Inter 1
Icardi 64;

HT: 1-0. Att: 40,015.
Red card: Kovacic (I) 86.

Milan 1
Poli 9;
Sassuolo 2
Sansone 28; Zaza 68;

HT: 1-1. Att: 35,000.

Palermo 5
Morganella 6; Munoz 10; Dybala 33 pen., 72; Barreto 85;
Cagliari 0

HT: 3-0. Att: 18,268.
Red card: Conti (C) 26.

Parma 1
Costa 11;
Fiorentina 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 12,824.
Red cards: Rodriguez (F) 79; Savic (F) 86.
Missed penalty: Gomez (F) 34.

Udinese 0
Roma 1
Astori 17;

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

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	17	12	4	1	35	8	40
Roma	17	12	3	2	29	11	39
Lazio	17	9	3	5	31	19	30
Napoli	17	8	6	3	32	21	30
Genoa	17	7	6	4	23	17	27
Sampdoria	17	6	9	2	22	17	27
Milan	17	6	7	4	26	20	25
Palermo	17	6	7	4	27	26	25
Fiorentina	17	6	6	5	21	14	24
Sassuolo	17	5	8	4	19	22	23
Inter	17	5	7	5	26	24	22
Udinese	17	6	4	7	20	23	22
Empoli	17	3	9	5	17	22	18
Torino	17	4	6	7	12	18	18
Verona	17	4	6	7	18	27	18
Chievo	17	4	5	8	12	19	17
Atalanta	17	3	7	7	13	23	16
Cagliari	17	2	6	9	21	34	12
Parma (-1)	17	3	1	13	17	36	9
Cesena	17	1	6	10	14	34	9

Top scorers
11 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
9 goals: Dybala (Palermo), Higuain (Napoli), Callejon (Napoli), Icardi (Inter).
8 goals: Di Natale (Udinese), Menez (Milan).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Sassuolo vs Udinese; 20.45 Torino vs Milan.
Sunday: 12.30 Inter vs Genoa. 15.00 Atalanta vs Chievo; Cagliari vs Cesena; Fiorentina vs Palermo; Roma vs Lazio; Sampdoria vs Empoli; Verona vs Parma. 20.45 Napoli vs Juventus.