Second-placed Roma ended their run of four successive draws when they ground out a barely-deserved 2-1 win at Gianfranco Zola’s Cagliari in Serie A yesterday.

Adem Ljajic and Leandro Paredes scored in each half for Roma, who are still seven points adrift of leaders Juventus after the Turin side beat Milan 3-1 on Saturday.

Third-placed Napoli beat Udinese 3-1 at home with the visitors’ striker Cyril Thereau scoring at both ends.

Roma went ahead eight minutes before the break when Daniele Verde chipped the ball over the Cagliari defence into the path of Ljajic, who fired into the roof of the net.

The Sardinians, one point and one place above the relegation zone, dominated the second half and Duje Cop should have levelled but instead skied his effort with only Morgan De Sanctis to beat.

Instead, Paredes wrapped up the points when he met Verde’s cross with a volley which went in off the foot of the post, the Argentine midfielder’s first goal for the club since his move from Boca Juniors in July.

Paul-Jose M’Poku pulled one back in stoppage time.

Napoli flew into a two-goal lead in 21 minutes through Dries Mertens and Manolo Gabbiadini, but Thereau brought Udinese back into the game before the half hour, only to turn a Mertens ball into his own goal in the second half.

Manual Pasqual scored a late goal to give Fiorentina a 3-2 win over Atalanta as Mohamed Salah made his debut for the hosts following his move from Chel-sea.

Davide Zappacosta put Atlanta ahead but Jose Basanta and Alessandro Diamanti turned the game around for Fiorentina. Richmond Boakye levelled with seven minutes to go before Pasqual scored an 89th-minute winner.

Inter ended a poor run of three successive defeats in all competitions when they brushed aside Palermo 3-0 in the late kick-off at the San Siro.

Fredy Guarin put Inter ahead after 16 minutes before Mauro Icardi took centre stage with a well-taken double that lifted him to second place in the scorers’ list with 13 goals, just one shy of Carlos Tevez.

Both goals came in the opening 10 minutes as Sampdoria drew 1-1 at home to Sassuolo.

Defender Francesco Acerbi gave the visitors a third-minute advantage and Eder pulled them level six minutes later while Empoli beat relegation-threatened Cesena 2-0.

Serie A

Cagliari 1
M’Poku 90;
Roma 2
Ljajic 38; Paredes 85;

HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.

Empoli 2
Maccarone 30; Signorelli 57;
Cesena 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 9,500.

Fiorentina 3
Basanta 18; Diamanti 76; Pasqual 89;
Atalanta 2
Zappacosta 9; Boakye 83;

HT: 1-1. Att: 39,500.

Inter 3
Guarin 16; Icardi 65, 88;
Palermo 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 37,000.

Napoli 3
Mertens 8; Gabbiadini 22; Thereau 59 og;
Udinese 1
Thereau 27;

HT: 2-1. Att: 30,000.

Parma p
Chievo p

Sampdoria 1
Eder 9;
Sassuolo 1
Acerbi 3;

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

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	22	16	5	1	47	10	53
Roma	22	13	7	2	36	17	46
Napoli	22	12	6	4	41	27	42
Fiorentina	22	9	8	5	32	22	35
Sampdoria	22	8	11	3	28	24	35
Lazio	21	10	4	7	37	25	34
Torino	22	8	7	7	25	23	31
Palermo	22	7	9	6	34	36	30
Inter	22	7	8	7	33	29	29
Milan	22	7	8	7	32	29	29
Genoa	21	7	8	6	29	26	29
Sassuolo	22	6	11	5	28	30	29
Udinese	22	7	7	8	26	30	28
Verona	22	6	6	10	24	37	24
Empoli	22	4	11	7	21	26	23
Atalanta	22	5	8	9	19	29	23
Cagliari	22	4	7	11	29	42	19
Chievo	21	4	6	11	15	26	18
Cesena	22	3	6	13	21	43	15
Parma (-1)	21	3	1	17	20	46	9

Playing today
Lazio vs Genoa - 20.45

Top scorers
14 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
13 goals: Icardi (Inter).
12 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Menez (Milan).
11 goals: Dybala (Palermo).
9 goals: Callejon (Napoli), Di Natale (Udinese), Quagliarella (Torino), Gabbiadini (Napoli).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Sassuolo vs Fio-rentina. 20.45 Palermo vs Napoli.

Sunday: 12.30 Milan vs Empoli. 15.00 Atalanta vs Inter; Genoa vs Verona; Roma vs Parma; Torino vs Cagliari; Udinese vs Lazio. 18.00 Chievo vs Sampdoria. 20.45 Cesena vs Juve.

Lega Pro

Group A: AlbinoLeffe vs Bassano 1-1; Lumezzane vs Arezzo pp; Real Vicenza vs Monza 3-0; Pavia vs Alessandria 0-1.

Group B: Pistoiese vs Grosseto 0-2; Ascoli vs Spal 2-1; Santarcangelo vs San Marino 3-1.

Group C: Barletta vs Reggina 2-2; Aversa vs Foggia 1-3; Lecce vs Savoia 1-0; Salernitana vs Ischia 2-1; Juve Stabia vs Martina 1-1; Lamezia vs Melfi 1-0