Miralem Pjanic’s goal gave Roma a 1-0 win over Napoli in Serie A yesterday, their first home victory for more than four months, and in-form Lazio eased to a 3-1 victory over lowly Cagliari.

Second-placed Roma are still 14 points behind leaders Juventus who beat gritty Empoli 2-0 in the late kick-off.

Carlos Tevez was once again Juve’s protagonist as the Argentine rifled home after an indirect free-kick was directed to him inside the Empoli box just before half-time.

Juve only made sure of victory in stoppage time with a Roberto Pereyra goal after the keeper had half-parried a Tevez shot.

Roma scored in the 25th minute when Alessandro Florenzi set up Pjanic after a string of precise passes and his low shot beat keeper Mariano Andujar.

Pjanic, who was also on target when Roma last won at home against Inter in November, gestured towards the press box after his goal.

“Was my celebration controversial? Some people in the press talk too much,” he told reporters.

Napoli seem to bring out the best in Bosnian playmaker Pjanic who netted twice in last season’s 2-0 home win over Rafa Benitez’s men.

Rudi Garcia’s Roma controlled the opening half and pressed their opponents all over the pitch.

The second half was a different story as Napoli attacked furiously without managing to break through.

Benitez’s team have now lost four straight games away from home to slip to sixth in the standings.

Lucas Biglia scored one penalty and missed another as third-placed Lazio sealed their seventh successive league win to move on to 55 points, one adrift of city rivals Roma.

“Today we showed we’ve learnt from past mistakes,” Lazio coach Sergio Pioli told Sky Sports Italia.

“We had a different mindset compared to losses against Empoli and Cesena. Lazio have to stay humble but are on the right path.”

German Miroslav Klose put Lazio in front in the opening half, tapping in a Stefano Mauri pass for his ninth goal of the season.

Cagliari, second from bottom on 21 points, showed great fighting spirit to grab a deserved equaliser when Marco Sau’s shot was deflected by Lazio defender Mauricio into his own goal.

Lazio substitute Keita then won his team two penalties, with Biglia converting the first before rifling his second over the bar and Marco Parolo’s stoppage time free-kick completed the scoring.

Fiorentina climbed above Samp-doria into fourth place thanks to a 2-0 win over the Blucerchiati.

Alessandro Diamanti and Mohamed Salah’s quickfire goals in the second half earned Vincenzo Montella’s men all three points at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, taking them also above Napoli in the standings.

Salah received a standing ovation when he left the field late on, having won over the Fiorentina fans since arriving from Chelsea in January.

Milan notched their first away win in over five months when Jeremy Menez outran two defenders and delivered an unstoppable shot to gave his side a 2-1 victory over Palermo.

Milan are eighth on 41 points, seven adrift of fifth-placed Samp.

Inter were denied their first win in five games in a 1-1 draw with bottom club Parma, who continue to show great resolve, despite players not being paid since the beginning of the season.

Cesena came back from a three-goal deficit in Verona to earn a point that left them third-bottom on 22 points, four behind Atalanta, who lost 2-1 at home to Torino, and the safety zone.

Serie A

Atalanta 1
Pinilla 74;
Torino 2
Quagliarella 20; Glik 39;

HT: 0-2. Att 12,500.
Red cards: Pinilla (A) 90; Basha (T) 90.

Cagliari 1
Sau 49;
Lazio 3
Klose 31; Biglia 60 pen; Parolo 90;

HT: 0-1. Att 8,000.
Red card: Diakite (C) 68.
Missed penalty: Biglia (L) 69.

Fiorentina 2
Diamanti 61; Salah 64;
Sampdoria 0

HT: 0-0. Att 31,000.

Genoa 1
De Maio 19;
Udinese 1
Thereau 68;

HT: 1-0. Att 18,117.

Inter 1
Guarin 25;
Parma 1
Lila 44;

HT: 1-1. Att 33,175.

Juventus 2
Tevez 43; Pereyra 90;
Empoli 0

HT: 1-0. Att 38,000.

Roma 1
Pjanic 25;
Napoli 0

HT: 1-0. Att 34,425.

Palermo 1
Dybala 72 pen;
Milan 2
Cerci 37; Menez 83;

HT: 0-1. Att 15,113.

Sassuolo 1
Berardi 23 pen;
Chievo 0

HT: 1-0. Att 10,000.
Red card: Peluso (S) 60.

Verona 3
Toni 3, 62; Gomez 30;
Cesena 3
Carbonero 70; Brienza 77; Succi 81;

HT: 2-0. Att 17,590.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	29	21	7	1	57	14	70
Roma	29	15	11	3	40	21	56
Lazio	29	17	4	8	54	28	55
Fiorentina	29	13	10	6	43	31	49
Sampdoria	29	12	12	5	37	30	48
Napoli	29	13	8	8	47	37	47
Torino	29	11	9	9	34	31	42
Milan	29	10	11	8	43	36	41
Inter	29	9	11	9	43	37	38
Genoa	28	9	11	8	38	34	38
Palermo	29	8	11	10	39	43	35
Sassuolo	29	8	11	10	35	43	35
Udinese	28	8	10	10	32	37	34
Empoli	29	6	15	8	30	32	33
Verona	29	8	9	12	36	51	33
Chievo	29	8	8	13	21	31	32
Atalanta	29	5	11	13	24	40	26
Cesena	29	4	10	15	28	52	22
Cagliari	29	4	9	16	35	56	21
Parma (-3)	27	3	4	20	22	54	10

Top scorers
17 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
16 goals: Menez (Milan).
15 goals: Icardi (Inter), Toni (Verona).
13 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Dybala (Palermo).

Next fixtures

Wednesday: 18.30 Parma vs Udinese.

Saturday: 18.00 Genoa vs Cagliari; Parma vs Juve. 20.45 Verona vs Inter.

Sunday: 12.30 Cesena vs Chievo. 15.00 Atalanta vs Sassuolo; Lazio vs Empoli; Napoli vs Fiorentina; Torino vs Roma; Udinese vs Palermo. 20.45 Milan vs Sampdoria.