Inter went two points clear at the top of the Serie A after brushing aside Frosinone 4-0 at the San Siro.

Fiorentina failed to keep the pace with the Nerazzurri as they had substitute Nikola Kalinic to thank as the Croatian forward scored twice in five minutes and then hit the crossbar to rescue a 2-2 draw at home to lowly Empoli earlier yesterday after they had trailed 2-0.

The Viola are now sharing second spot with Napoli who in the lunchtime kick-off beat Verona 2-0, courtesy of two second-half goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Gonzalo Higuain.

Vincenzo Montella made a losing start as coach of Sampdoria, who went down 1-0 at Udinese, and Davide Ballardini, starting a second stint in charge of Palermo, saw the Sicilians held 1-1 at Lazio.

There was an amazing finish at Genoa where Francesco Acerbi scored in the 94th minute for visitors Sassuolo to make it 1-1, only for Leonardo Pavoletti to win it for the hosts almost immediately. Both teams had a player sent off in the first half.

Inter found little difficulty to overcome newcomers Frosinone last night with Jonathan Biabiany, making a rare start for the Nerazzurri putting them ahead after 29 minutes.

Mauro Icardi showed great predatory skills to meet Adem Ljajic’s pass and prod the ball home eight minutes into the second half as the hosts took firm command of the match.

Frosinone looked too weak to pose any problems to the Inter defence and it was no surprise that in the closing stages Inter wrapped up the points with two more goals from Jeison Murillo (87) and Marcelo Brozovic (90).

In Florence, Empoli got off to a flying start as Marko Livaja fired home from Riccardo Saponara’s pass in the 19th minute and Liechtenstein international Marcel Buechel scored with a long-range effort eight minutes later.

The visitors could easily have gone three ahead as Saponara fired over the bar and then had a strong penalty appeal waved away.

The game changed dramatically in the second half after Fiorentina brought on Croatia forward Kalinic who reduced the arrears with a header in the 56th minute and turned in Khouma Babacar’s pass to level just after the hour.

In a dramatic finale, Kalinic hit the crossbar and saw another effort blocked by Lukasz Skorupski who also made a superb save in stoppage time to turn away Matias Vecino’s long-range shot.

Emmanuel Badu’s first half goal for Udinese ensured a losing start for new Sampdoria coach Montella, whose predecessor Walter Zenga was fired after only 14 matches. The visitors also had Ervin Zukanovic given a straight red card.

Ballardini made his Palermo debut against Lazio, where he spent an unhappy six months in 2009-10, and saw defender Edoardo Goldaniga give the Sicilians a first-half lead before Antonio Candreva levelled with a second-half penalty.

Tempers flared just before halftime in Genoa when Sassuolo’s temperamental striker Domenico Berardi was sent off for a wild kick at Cristian Anseldi and Diego Perotti was dismissed for the hosts as he also got involved.

Venezuela midfielder Tomas Rincon put Genoa ahead with a curling effort early in the second half before an astonishing finale.

Acerbi levelled with a rebound four minutes into stoppage time but Sassuolo had barely finished celebrating when Pavoletti headed in Genoa’s winner.

Two early goals from Roberto Inglese and Riccardo Meggiorini gave Chievo a 2-1 win at Carpi and Torino won 1-0 at Atalanta thanks to Cesare Bovo’s volley.

Serie A

Atalanta 0
Torino 1
Bovo 52;

HT: 0-0. Att: 13,500.

Carpi 1
Gamberini 61 og;
Chievo 2
Inglese 8; Meggiorini 14;

HT: 0-2. Att: 6,000.

Fiorentina 2
Kalinic 56, 61;
Empoli 2
Livaja 18; Buechel 28;

HT: 0-2. Att: 30,000.

Genoa 2
Rincon 51; Pavoletti 90+;
Sassuolo 1
Acerbi 90;

HT: 0-0. Att: 19,000.
Red cards: Perotti (G) 42, Berardi (S) 42.

Inter 4
Biabiany 29; Icardi 53; Murillo 87; Brozovic 90;
Frosinone 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 37,469.

Lazio 1
Candreva 70 pen.;
Palermo 1
Goldaniga 21;

HT: 0-1. Att: 15,000.

Udinese 1
Badu 34;
Sampdoria 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 10,000.
Red card: Zukanovic (S) 90.

Verona 0
Napoli 2
Insigne 67; Higuain 74;

HT: 0-0. Att: 18,000.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Inter	13	9	3	1	16	7	30
Napoli	13	8	4	1	24	8	28
Fiorentina	13	9	1	3	26	11	28
Roma	13	8	3	2	29	15	27
Sassuolo	13	6	4	3	15	12	22
Juventus	13	6	3	4	17	11	21
Milan	13	6	2	5	15	17	20
Lazio	13	6	1	6	17	21	19
Torino	13	5	3	5	18	18	18
Atalanta	13	5	3	5	13	15	18
Chievo	13	4	4	5	16	13	16
Sampdoria	13	4	4	5	19	18	16
Genoa	13	4	4	5	14	17	16
Palermo	13	4	3	6	13	17	15
Udinese	13	4	3	6	11	15	15
Empoli	13	4	3	6	15	20	15
Bologna	13	4	1	8	13	17	13
Frosinone	13	3	2	8	11	22	11
Verona	13	0	6	7	8	21	6
Carpi	13	1	3	9	11	26	6

Top scorers
10 goals: Higuain (Napoli).
9 goals: Eder (Sampdoria), Kalinic (Fiorentina).
7 goals: Insigne (Napoli).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 18.00 Torino vs Bologna. 20.45 Milan vs Sampdoria.

Sunday: 15.00 Chievo vs Udinese; Frosinone vs Verona; Genoa vs Carpi; Roma vs Atalanta. 18.00 Empoli vs Lazio. 20.45 Palermo vs Juventus.

Monday, Nov. 30: 19.00 Sassuolo vs Fiorentina. 21.00 Napoli vs Inter.

Serie B
Bari vs Livorno - 1-0

Today:
Cagliari vs Ascoli - 20.30

Leading standings: Cagliari 29; Crotone, Bari 28; Cesena, Pescara 24; Novara 22; Livorno 21.

Lega Pro

Group A: Bassano Virtus vs Cittadella 1-1; Reggiana vs Pordenone 1-4; Giana vs Pro Patria 0-0; Alessandria vs Pavia 2-1.

Group B: Lupa Roma vs Carrarese 1-1; Pistoiese vs US Ancona 0-1; Lucchese vs Savona 2-0; Siena vs Arezzo 1-1.