Gianfranca Zola's Serie A coaching career got off to a miserable start when his Cagliari side were thumped 5-0 at Palermo.

Germany forward Mario Gomez missed a penalty and Fiorentina had two men sent off in a 1-0 defeat at bottom club Parma while a spectacular goal by Simone Zaza, who met a corner with a full-blooded volley, gave Sassuolo a shock 2-1 win at AC Milan.

AS Roma kept up their title challenge with a 1-0 win at Udinese, although the hosts claimed that Davide Astori's header never crossed the line after it bounced down off the crossbar.

Two goals from Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain took his tally to nine and helped Napoli win 4-1 at relegation-threatened Cesena, keeping them joint third with Lazio who beat Sampdoria 3-0 on Monday.

Jose Callejon also scored and Daniele Capelli turned Marek Hamsik's shot into his own goal.

Zola, who replaced Zdenen Zeman after an eight-match winless run, barely had time to settle into his seat before Michel Morganella and Ezequiel Munoz put the Sicilians 2-0 ahead.

Cagliari then had Daniele Conti sent off for a second bookable offence in the 26th minute before Paulo Dybala made it 3-0 with a penalty just after the half hour.

Dybala and Edgar Barreto completed the rout after halftime, leaving Cagliari (12 points) firmly entrenched in the relegation zone. Palermo (25 points) are joint eighth with Milan.

Andrea Costa gave Parma an early lead with a close-range header before Gomez, plagued by injury since his move to Fiorentina, saw a weak penalty saved by Antonio Mirante in the 33rd minute.

The visitors had Gonzalo Rodriguez and Stefan Savic sent off in the last 15 minutes.

RESULTS

AC Milan      1 Sassuolo         2  
Cesena        1 Napoli             4  
Chievo Verona 0 Torino         0  
Empoli         0 Verona           0  
Genoa         2 Atalanta Bergamo 2  
Palermo       5 Cagliari           0  
Parma         1 Fiorentina       0  
Udinese       0 AS Roma        1