Juventus missed a chance to extend their advantage over second-placed Roma when they played out a dismal 0-0 draw away to Udinese yesterday, while Napoli closed in on Serie A’s top two with a 2-1 win at Chievo.
A Mauricio Pinilla scissors kick gave Atalanta a last minute 2-1 win over Cagliari, Fabio Quagliarella grabbed a hat-trick in Torino’s 5-1 demolition of Sampdoria and Inter’s miserable form under Roberto Mancini continued as they lost 3-1 at Sassuolo.
Juventus, with 50 points from 21 games, stayed seven clear of Roma although Carlos Tevez should have given them the points when he shot wide after being set up by Paul Pogba.
Roberto Pereyra also hit the woodwork for the champions.
Napoli’s 2-1 win at Chievo, thanks to Manolo Gabbiadini’s second-half winner, took them to 39 points, four behind Roma who drew 1-1 with Empoli on Saturday.
Milan were back to winning ways after they eased past bottom-placed Parma 3-1 at the San Siro last night.
Jeremy Menez put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot on 17 minutes but Parma fought back and Antonio Nocerino grabbed the equaliser seven minutes later.
Milan improved on the restart and they regained the lead on 57 minutes when Menez grabbed his second before Christian Zaccardo added a third 14 minutes from time.
Atalanta’s Pinilla has now scored for 10 different clubs after his incredible acrobatic effort in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
The ball was played into the penalty area behind the Chilean but he still managed to hook it over his shoulder into the net, stopping Cagliari’s revival under Gianfranco Zola in its tracks.
The Sardinians are just one point above the relegation zone.
Quagliarella volleyed Torino ahead from a corner and converted a penalty on the half hour as Torino ripped into high-flying Sampdoria, then completed his hat-trick just after the hour by turning in Marco Benassi’s pass.
Samuel Eto’o came on for his Sampdoria debut only to see Amauri and Bruno Peres add two more for Torino while Pedro Obiang grabbed the visitors’ consolation.
Fourth place Lazio stayed level on 34 points with Sampdoria after a shock 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Cesena.
Inter, who beat Sassuolo 7-0 in the same fixture last season, have taken only 10 points in 10 games under Mancini and dropped to joint 12th with 26 points, after being overtaken by both yesterday’s opponents and Torino.
Serie A
Atalanta 2
Biava 18; Pinilla 90;
Cagliari 1
Dessena 44;
HT: 1-1. Att: 10,000.
Cesena 2
Defrel 61; Cataldi 77 og;
Lazio 1
Klose 87;
HT: 0-0. Att: 14,818.
Chievo 1
Britos 25 og;
Napoli 2
Cesar 18 og; Gabbiadini 62;
HT: 1-1. Att: 10,000.
Milan 3
Menez 17 pen, 57; Zaccardo 76;
Parma 1
Nocerino 24;
HT: 1-1. Att: 24,400.
Palermo 2
Dybala 18; Belotti 79;
Verona 1
Tachtsidis 8;
HT: 1-1. Att: 14,058.
Sassuolo 3
Zaza 17; Sansone 29; Berardi 90 pen;
Inter 1
Icardi 83;
HT: 2-0. Att: 15,000.
Red cards: Sansone (S) 90; Donkor (I) 90+2.
Torino 5
Quagliarella 16; Quagliarella 30p, 65; Amauri 75; Peres 90;
Sampdoria 1
Obiang 78;
HT: 2-0. Att: 30,000.
Udinese 0
Juventus 0
Att: 12,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 44 | 9 | 50 |
| Roma | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 34 | 16 | 43 |
| Napoli | 21 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 26 | 39 |
| Lazio | 21 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 37 | 25 | 34 |
| Sampdoria | 21 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 27 | 23 | 34 |
| Fiorentina | 21 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 29 | 20 | 32 |
| Palermo | 21 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 34 | 33 | 30 |
| Milan | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 26 | 29 |
| Genoa | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 29 | 26 | 29 |
| Torino | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 28 |
| Sassuolo | 21 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 29 | 28 |
| Udinese | 21 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 25 | 27 | 28 |
| Inter | 21 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 29 | 26 |
| Verona | 21 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 34 | 24 |
| Atalanta | 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 26 | 23 |
| Empoli | 21 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 20 |
| Cagliari | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 28 | 40 | 19 |
| Chievo | 21 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 18 |
| Cesena | 21 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 41 | 15 |
| Parma (-1) | 21 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 20 | 46 | 9 |
Top scorers
13 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
12 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Menez (Milan).
11 goals: Icardi (Inter), Dybala (Palermo).
9 goals: Callejon (Napoli), Di Natale (Udinese).
Next fixtures
Tomorrow: Coppa Italia QF – 20.45 Roma vs Fiorentina.
Wednesday: Coppa Italia QF – 20.45 Napoli vs Inter.
Saturday: Serie A – 18.00 Verona vs Torino; 20.45 Juventus vs Milan.
Sunday: Serie A – 12.30 Fiorentina vs Atalanta. 15.00 Cagliari vs Roma; Empoli vs Cesena; Parma vs Chievo; Napoli vs Udinese; Sampdoria vs Sassuolo. 20.45 Inter vs Palermo.
Feb. 9: Serie A – 20.45 Lazio vs Genoa.