Shell-shocked Roma followed up their midweek Champions League debacle in Barcelona by losing 2-0 at home to nine-man Atalanta in Serie A yesterday.
Newcomers Carpi won only their second-ever Serie A match with a 2-1 victory at Genoa, who played nearly the entire game with 10 men, Verona remained winless at the bottom of the table after losing 3-2 at Frosinone while Lorenzo Tonelli condemned Lazio to a fourth consecutive away defeat with his early goal for Empoli at the Carlo Castellani.
A curling effort by Alejandro Gomez and a German Denis penalty combined to pile on the misery for Roma who also had Maicon sent off and left the field to a resounding chorus of jeers from the sparse crowd at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma, who could have pulled level with leaders Inter if they had won, instead stayed fourth with 27 points from 14 games.
Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who described Barcelona as “beautiful to watch” after being on the wrong end of Tuesday’s 6-1 mauling, was dropped and replaced by Morgan de Sanctis.
Atalanta survived some early pressure and went ahead five minutes before half-time when Gomez intercepted a casual pass out of defence and curled the ball into the top corner from outside the penalty area.
De Sanctis made a superb stop with his legs to deny Maxi Moralez a goal when he broke through but Roma were buried after Maicon clumsily slid in and upended Gomez. The Brazilian defender was dismissed and Denis calmly converted.
Atalanta were never under threat after that even when Guglielmo Stendardo and Alberto Grassi both received second yellow cards and were dismissed.
Genoa had Leonardo Pavoletti sent off after six minutes for elbowing against Carpi but almost immediately went ahead through Diogo Figueiras.
Marco Boriello scored from a narrow angle against his old club to equalise just before the hour and, after sustained Carpi pressure, provided the cross for Cristian Zaccardo to score the winner with 10 minutes left.
Verona’s fate was effectively settled in the 19th minute when goalkeeper Rafael, having made a comfortable save, appeared to elbow Luca Paganini, gave away a penalty and was sent off.
Daniel Ciofani converted past substitute goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini and scored a second before half-time.
Federico Dionisi made it 3-0 although Verona then burst into life as Federico Viviani and Vangelis Moras replied.
Empoli defender Tonelli opened his account for the season with a fifth-minute header and try as they might Lazio could not then get past Lukasz Skorupski, who worked particularly hard to protect the 1-0 lead.
Juventus go fifth
Juventus climbed to fifth in Serie A after making it five wins in a row with a 3-0 victory at Palermo.
The Bianconeri saw more of the ball but wasted a couple of good opportunities through Mario Mandzukic and Giorgio Chiellini.
However, nine minutes after the restart, Paulo Dybala delivered a perfect cross for Mandzukic at the far post and the Croat planted his header home.
Stefano Sturaro and Simone Zaza sealed the points late on as Juve continue to move up the ladder. They have 24 points, six behind leaders Inter who play their match in hand against second-placed Napoli tonight.
Serie A
Chievo 2
Paloschi 26; Inglese 72;
Udinese 3
Frey 42og; Thereau 46, 80;
HT: 1-1. Att: 9,500.
Empoli 1
Tonelli 5;
Lazio 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 9,326.
Frosinone 3
Ciofani 22p, 40; Dionisi 48;
Verona 2
Viviani 69; Moras 76;
HT: 2-0. Att: 7,400.
Red card: Rafael (V) 19.
Genoa 1
Figueiras 8;
Carpi 2
Borriello 57; Zaccardo 80;
HT: 1-0. Att: 19,400.
Red card: Pavoletti (G) 6.
Palermo 0
Juventus 3
Mandzukic 54; Sturaro 89; Zaza 90;
HT: 0-0. Att: 25,737.
Roma 0
Atalanta 2
Gomez 41; Denis 82 pen;
HT: 0-1. Att: 30,000.
Red cards: Maicon (R) 81; Stendardo (A) 87; Grassi (A) 90.
Playing today
Sassuolo vs Fiorentina - 19.00
Napoli vs Inter - 21.00
| 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 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 29 | 17 | 27 |
| Juventus | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 20 | 11 | 24 |
| Milan | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 18 | 23 |
| Sassuolo | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 22 |
| Torino | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 18 | 21 |
| Atalanta | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 15 | 21 |
| Lazio | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 19 |
| Udinese | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 18 |
| Empoli | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 18 |
| Chievo | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Sampdoria | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 16 |
| Genoa | 14 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 16 |
| Palermo | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 15 |
| Frosinone | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 24 | 14 |
| Bologna | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 13 |
| Carpi | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 27 | 9 |
| Verona | 14 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 6 |
Top scorers
10 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Eder (Sampdoria).
9 goals: Kalinic (Fiorentina).
7 goals: Insigne (Napoli).
6 goals: Bacca (Milan), Gervinho (Roma), Pjanic (Roma), Dybala (Juventus).
Next fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Lazio vs Juventus.
Saturday: 15.00 Torino vs Roma; 20.45 Inter vs Genoa.
Sunday: 12.30 Bologna vs Napoli. 15.00 Atalanta vs Palermo; Fiorentina vs Udinese; Frosinone vs Chievo; Verona vs Empoli. 18.00 Sampdoria vs Sassuolo. 20.45 Carpi vs Milan.
Serie B
Ascoli vs Trapani - 0-0
Leading standings: Cagliari 32; Crotone 31; Bari 29; Cesena 27; Novara 25; Pescara 24; Brescia 23; Perugia, Livorno, Entella 21; Trapani 20.
Lega Pro
Group A: Sudtirol vs Cremonese 1-1; AlbinoLeffe vs Renate 1-0; FeralpiSalo vs Pordenone 2-1.
Group B: L’Aquila vs Prato 2-0; Santarcangelo vs Spal 0-2; Teramo vs Siena 2-1; Pisa vs Lucchese 2-1.
Group C: Akragas vs Lecce 1-3; Andria vs Martina 2-0; Messina vs J. Stabia 0-0; Monopoli vs Ischia 2-0.