Roma wasted a golden opportunity to regain sole possession of second place in Serie A, drawing 1-1 at home to relegation threatened Atalanta yesterday.

Rudi Garcia’s side – who have now recorded 13 draws in 31 league matches – are tied with neighbours Lazio on 58 points with seven games to play, 15 behind runaway leaders Juventus.

“I’m not disappointed, I’m mad and there’s a difference,” Garcia told Sky Sports Italia.

“Few things worked today. We played bad, Atalanta played bad, even the referee had a bad game.”

The match could not have started better for Roma who were awarded a penalty after just two minutes when Guglielmo Stendardo slipped and touched the ball with his left hand inside the area.

Captain Francesco Totti then calmly netted from the spot for his sixth league goal of the season.

Atalanta’s leveller, 20 minutes later, also arrived from the spot – courtesy of German Denis – after Davide Astori was adjudged to have pushed Ubi Emanuelson.

Roma had more than an hour to notch a second goal but were not able to convert despite finishing the match with five attacking players.

“I don’t want to get into more detail, I’ll keep it for myself and talk to the players on Monday (today),” added Garcia.

Atalanta remain just above the drop zone in 17th place.

Napoli closed to within five points of Roma after cruising to a comfortable 3-0 victory at Cagliari.

After Jose Callejon broke the deadlock midway through the first half Napoli never looked back and the mainlanders were two goals to the good at half-time thanks to a blunder from Antonio Balzano.

Substitute Manolo Gabbiadini brought up 16 goals for the season with a long-range finish just before the hour and Napoli safely navigated the rest of the match after Christian Maggio was dismissed.

The win sees Rafael Benitez’s men pull three points clear of fifth-placed Sampdoria while Cagliari – nine points adrift of safety – creep ever closer to a return to Serie B.

Mid-table side Palermo defeated Genoa 2-1 at home, Bulgarian midfielder Ivaylo Chochev scoring both goals, but Torino failed to make up ground in the fight for sixth and a spot in next season’s Europa League, drawing 1-1 away to Sassuolo.

The Turin side remain on 44 points, alongside Genoa, and five adrift of sixth-placed Fiorentina who host Verona tonight.

Despite being docked four more points in mid-week for financial irregularities, and having no realistic hope of avoiding relegation, Parma drew 2-2 away to Empoli.

San Siro stalemate

Fallen giants Inter and Milan remain mired in mid-table obscurity after last night’s Derby della Madonnina ended goalless.

The second San Siro showdown of the Serie A season was not without incident, however, with both sides feeling the pain of having goals disallowed.

Milan defender Philippe Mexes breathed the deepest sigh of relief after his second-half own goal was chalked off due to a controversial foul from Inter striker Rodrigo Palacio.

The draw shuffles the Rossoneri and Nerazzurri onto 43 and 42 points respectively although their lowly league positions of ninth and 10th are unchanged.

Serie A

Cagliari 0
Napoli 3
Callejon 24; Balzano 45og; Gabbiadini 59;

HT: 0-2. Att: 10,000.
Red card: Maggio (N) 66.

Chievo 1
Pellissier 39;
Udinese 1
Cesar 72og;

HT: 1-0. Att: 9,000.

Empoli 2
Maccarone 32; Tonelli 45;
Parma 2
Lodi 19; Belfodil 73;

HT: 2-1. Att: 7,500.

Inter 0
Milan 0

Att: 74,022.

Palermo 2
Chochev 9, 30;
Genoa 1
Falque 52;

HT: 2-0. Att: 15,471.

Roma 1
Totti 3 pen;
Atalanta 1
Denis 23 pen;

HT: 1-1. Att: 35,088.

Sassuolo 1
Berardi 45 pen;
Torino 1
Quagliarella 59 pen;

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

Standings

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Juventus	31	22	7	2	59	15	73
Lazio	31	18	4	9	58	30	58
Roma	31	15	13	3	42	23	58
Napoli	31	15	8	8	53	37	53
Sampdoria	31	12	14	5	38	31	50
Fiorentina	30	13	10	7	43	34	49
Genoa	31	11	11	9	43	36	44
Torino	31	11	11	9	36	33	44
Milan	31	10	13	8	44	37	43
Inter	31	10	12	9	46	37	42
Palermo	31	10	11	10	44	45	41
Sassuolo	31	8	12	11	37	46	36
Chievo	31	9	9	13	23	32	36
Udinese	31	8	11	12	34	42	35
Empoli	31	6	16	9	32	38	34
Verona	30	8	9	13	36	54	33
Atalanta	31	6	12	13	27	42	30
Cesena	31	4	11	16	28	53	23
Cagliari	31	4	9	18	35	61	21
Parma (-7)	31	5	5	21	26	58	13

Playing today
Fiorentina vs Verona - 20.45

Top scorers
18 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
16 goals: Menez (Milan), Icardi (Inter).
15 goals: Toni (Verona).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Udinese vs Milan; 20.45 Inter vs Roma.

Sunday: 12.30 Atalanta vs Empoli. 15.00 Genoa vs Cesena; Verona vs Sassuolo; Lazio vs Chievo; Parma vs Palermo; Torino vs Juve. 18.00 Fio-rentina vs Cagliari. 20.45 Napoli vs Sampdoria.

Serie B
Latina vs Catania - 1-2
Livorno vs Frosinone - 0-0
Varese vs Avellino - 1-1

Playing today
Entella vs Pro Vercelli - 20.30

Leading standings: Carpi 74; Vicenza, Bologna 59; Frosinone 58; Perugia 54; Avellino 53; Livorno 52; Pescara, Spezia 51; Virtus Lanciano 48.