Juventus cemented third place in the Serie A as striker Fabio Quagliarella hit a brace in a hard-fought 3-1 win at Catania last night.
Simone Pepe put the Bianconeri in front after 35 minutes, but Takayuki Morimoto brought the home side deservedly level a minute later.
Two strikes from Quagliarella, who also saw a valid goal not given, earned Juventus all three points against a Catania side who had dominated the game but lacked a killer instinct in front of goal.
The Turin giants have 27 points, six adrift of leaders Milan and three down on second-placed Lazio.
Further down the table, Bologna put their off-field distractions behind them and claimed a first win on the road this season in Serie A at Cesena.
Veteran striker Marco Di Vaio opened the scoring in the 31st minute before Miguel Britos put the game beyond Cesena’s reach with three minutes remaining.
Bologna went into the game at the Dino Manuzzi stadium after being slapped with a one-point deduction for unpaid taxes last week.
Club owner Sergio Porcedda, who put the club up for sale last month, was also banned for six months.
Hernan Crespo scored twice to help Parma put some breathing space between themselves and the drop zone as they beat Udinese 2-1.
The Argentinian gave his side the lead from the spot with 24 minutes gone, before Antonio Di Natale levelled for Udinese.
Crespo put his team back in front for good early in the second half as Parma won 2-1.
The result has lifted Parma to 14th in the standings, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Udinese, meanwhile, have dropped to 11th.
Genoa are in the top half after coming from behind to win 3-1 at struggling Lecce.
Edward Ofere’s first goal in Italian football set them back on the stroke of half-time, only for Luca Toni to level 10 minutes after the break.
Andrea Ranocchia scored the second for the Rossoblu in the 77th minute, before Marco Rossi added a third in stoppage time.
Fiorentina beat Cagliari 1-0 to move up to 12th, with Adrian Mutu grabbing the only goal of the game.
The Romania international nodded home from close range in the 52nd minute to give Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side a valuable win that sees them move further away from the teams battling away near the foot of the table.
Cagliari remain just five points above the drop zone in 15th and they could have fallen behind as early as the ninth minute.
Bari remain two points adrift at the bottom after being beaten 3-0 at Sampdoria. The home side crashed out of the Europa League in midweek after a disappointing loss against PSV, but showed no signs of a hangover as they brushed past their 10-man opponents.
Giampaolo Pazzini opened the scoring from the spot after 17 minutes, before Marco Rossi was dismissed for lashing out at Samp keeper Gianluca Curci.
Stefano Guberti then took centre stage with two second-half strikes to secure a fine win.
Serie A
Catania 1
Morimoto 37;
Juventus 3
Pepe 35; Quagliarella 44, 58;
HT: 1-2. Att: 16, 556.
Cesena 0
Bologna 2
Di Vaio 31; Britos 87;
HT: 0-1. Att: 15,680.
Fiorentina 1
Mutu 52;
Cagliari 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 21,644.
Lecce 1
Ofere 45;
Genoa 3
Toni 55; Ranocchia 77; Rossi 90;
HT: 1-0. Att: 6,200.
Parma 2
Crespo 24 pen, 56;
Udinese 1
Di Natale 35;
HT: 1-1. Att: 12,267.
Sampdoria 3
Pazzini 17 pen; Guberti 56, 61;
Bari 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 20,877.
Red card: Rossi (B) 32.
Today – 20.45
Napoli vs Palermo
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Palermo vs Parma; Udinese vs Fiorentina. 20.45 Genoa vs Napoli.
Sunday: 12.30 Bologna vs Milan. 15.00 Brescia vs Sampdoria; Cagliari vs Catania; Lecce vs Chievo; Roma vs Bari. 20.45 Juventus vs Lazio.
Wednesday (Jan. 19 20.45): Inter vs Cesena.
(Next weekend’s fixtures may be called off due to a players’ strike)
Top scorers
9 goals: Eto’o (Inter); Di Natale (Udinese); Cavani (Napoli).
8 goals: Matri (Cagliari); Di Vaio (Bologna); Ibrahimovic (Milan); Quagliarella (Juventus).
7 goals: Pastore (Palermo).
Serie B
Torino 1 - Siena 1
Vicenza 1 - Frosinone 0