Cagliari were relegated with two matches still to play, ending an 11-year stint in Serie A, after losing 1-0 at home to Palermo yesterday.

Atalanta, the only team that Cagliari could have caught, were able to celebrate survival despite being crushed 4-1 at home by high-flying Genoa.

The Sardinians, who won their only Serie A title in 1970, will follow Parma and Cesena into Serie B after an unhappy season during which they employed three different coaches.

Zdenek Zeman was in charge until December when he was replaced by Gianfranco Zola, who himself was sacked in March. Zeman returned but quit one month later and Gianluca Festa took his place.

Cagliari, 18th with 28 points, never recovered after Franco Vazquez curled the ball after nine minutes and they were jeered off at the end.

In the midday kick-off, Domenico Berardi scored a hat-trick, including a so-called phantom goal, against Milan for the second season running to give Sassuolo a 3-2 win against opponents who finished the game with nine men.

Milan had Giacomo Bonaventura and Suso sent off in the second half as their frustration boiled over, their grievances including Berardi’s first goal where television replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball had crossed the line.

Last season, Berardi scored four goals in a 4-3 win for Sassuolo which led to Massimiliano Allegri being fired as Milan coach.

Milan’s defeat continued a miserable season for the seven-times European champions under Filippo Inzaghi.

Berardi struck after 13 minutes when his 25-metre shot was fumbled by Milan goalkeeper Diego Lopez who clawed the ball away, only to see the goal awarded.

It was the latest ball-over-the-line controversy in Serie A which will introduce goal-line technology from next season.

“There were two doubtful decisions, both against us. It’s only natural that your heads drop when you concede a goal that didn’t actually go in,” Inzaghi said.

“The second goal could have been offside too, so it becomes difficult to react in those circumstances. The team did well to get back to 2-2, then the moment we had the game under control Bonaventura was sent off.”

In Bergamo, Iago Falque struck twice as Genoa beat Atalanta to climb to fifth in the standings and boost their prospects of playing in Europe next season.

Genoa fell behind when Mauricio Pinilla scored from the penalty spot. But after Leonardo Pavoletti equalised on the half-hour mark, Andrea Bertolacci put Genoa ahead in the 57th minute before Falque scored twice to put the game out of Atalanta’s reach.

Elsewhere, Torino maintained an outside chance of sneaking into the Europa League after dominating Chievo to win 2-0.

The Maroons flattered to deceive for 51 minutes, but once Maxi Lopez had notched an overdue opener he was quickly able to convert a brace against a Chievo side who offered very little at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma go second

In the late kick-off match, Roma edged Udinese 2-1 to go second in the standings, one point ahead of Lazio.

Udinese opened the scoring through Stipe Perica who volleyed in a rebound for his first Serie A goal since he arrived on loan from Chelsea in January.

Roma, without the suspended Alessandro Florenzi and the injured Gervinho, hit back and the returning Francesco Totti had a free-kick stopped by Udinese keeper Orestis Karnezis.

Perica went close with a header but Roma scored a deserved equaliser when Nainggolan volleyed in from Totti’s cross.

Udinese almost regained the lead before half-time but Guilherme’s free-kick came off the bar.

Roma were also denied by the woodwork on two occasions but the goal that mattered came on 65 minutes as Vasilios Torosidis profited from some lax defending by Udinese to beat keeper Karnezis.

Serie A

Played yesterday

Atalanta 1
Pinilla 18 pen;
Genoa 4
Pavoletti 30; Bertolacci 57; Falque 61, 73;

HT: 1-1. Att: 16,881.

Cagliari 0
Palermo 1
Vazquez 9;

HT: 0-1. Att: 5,000.

Roma 2
Nainggolan 45; Torosidis 65;
Udinese 1
Perica 19;

HT: 1-1. Att: 35,720.

Sassuolo 3
Berardi 13, 31, 78;
Milan 2
Bonaventura 33; Alex 51;

HT: 2-1. Att: 13,727.
Red cards: Bonaventura (M) 57; Suso (M) 90.

Torino 2
Lopez 51, 69;
Chievo 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 20,000.

Verona 2
Moras 24; Sala 67;
Empoli 1
Saponara 6;

HT: 1-1. Att: 18,588.

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Juventus 36 25 8 3 67 21 83
Roma 36 18 13 5 51 28 67
Lazio 36 20 6 10 66 34 66
Napoli 35 17 9 9 64 45 60
Genoa 36 15 11 10 58 42 56
Fiorentina 35 15 10 10 52 44 55
Sampdoria 36 13 15 8 45 39 54
Inter 36 13 13 10 53 42 52
Torino 36 13 12 11 43 42 51
Milan 36 11 13 12 50 49 46
Palermo 36 11 13 12 49 51 46
Verona 36 11 11 14 45 61 44
Sassuolo 36 10 13 13 45 56 43
Chievo 36 10 12 14 27 37 42
Empoli 36 8 17 11 42 47 41
Udinese 36 10 11 15 40 51 41
Atalanta 36 7 15 14 36 53 36
Cagliari 36 6 10 20 43 65 28
Cesena 35 4 12 19 34 64 24
Parma (-7) 35 6 6 23 29 68 17

Playing today
Fiorentina vs Parma - 19.00
Napoli vs Cesena - 21.00

Top scorers
20 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
19 goals: Icardi (Inter), Toni (Verona).
16 goals: Menez (Milan), Higuain (Napoli).
14 goals: Gabbiadini (Napoli), Berardi (Sassuolo), Di Natale (Udinese).
13 goals: Falque (Genoa), Dybala (Palermo), Quagliarella (Torino).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Juventus vs Napoli; 20.45 Genoa vs Inter.

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

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