A hugely controversial penalty set Roma on the way to a 2-0 win over neighbours Lazio in a derby which was boycotted by both sets of Ultras in a protest over security measures yesterday.
Edin Dzeko won and converted an early penalty for Roma, although the foul appeared to take place outside the penalty area, and Gervinho added the second in the 63rd minute after both sides had struck the woodwork.
Inter and Fiorentina ensured they finished the weekend sharing the Serie A lead after the Nerazzurri beat Torino 1-0 away while Fiorentina beat Sampdoria 2-0 in Genoa.
Titleholders Juventus came from behind to win 3-1 at Empoli, climbing to joint seventh.
Roberto Mancini’s Inter, who managed just two shots on target and won thanks to Geoffrey Kondogbia’s first-half goal, have won eight of their 12 games this season, all of them by one-goal margins, and scored only 12 goals.
Inter and Fiorentina have 27 points, followed by Roma on 26.
Napoli are up to fourth after a Gonzalo Higuain earned them a 1-0 over Udinese.
The Stadio Olimpico was only half-full for the derby as Lazio joined Roma’s fans in their protest.
Roma’s hardcore fans are furious because the civil defence service has ordered the Curva Sud to be split for security reasons and say their club’s response has not been strong enough. As a result both ends of the stadium were almost deserted.
There was early drama when Dzeko was felled by Santiago Gentiletti and, although replays showed the tackle was outside the area, the referee pointed to the spot and the Bosnia international converted for only his second Serie A goal of the season.
Gentiletti, booked for the foul, escaped a red card for tripping Gervinho shortly afterwards.
Felipe Anderson fired a long-range shot against the post for Lazio and than Radja Nainggolan’s shot also struck the woodwork for Roma before halftime.
There were plenty of sneaky late tackles and flare-ups before Gervinho collected a long pass forward in his stride, burst into the Lazio area and found a gap between Federico Marchetti and the near post to keep Roma on Inter’s heels.
Lazio, who have failed to win any of their last five meetings with Roma, slumped to their third successive Serie A defeat.
Juve fight back
Massimo Maccarone gave Empoli an early lead but Juventus hit back with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Patrice Evra before halftime and Paulo Dybala added a third six minutes from the end.
Fiorentina strolled to a comfortable victory over Sampdoria with Josip Ilicic putting them ahead from a penalty spot after ten minutes before Nikola Kalinic sealed the points with a second goal on 58 minutes.
Genoa snatched a 2-2 draw at Frosinone despite having Sebastian De Maio sent off in the first half after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession.
A superb piece of trickery from Darko Lazovic set up Serge Gakpe who tapped in the equaliser in the 75th minute.
Alberto Gilardino’s goal gave Palermo a 1-0 win over Chievo to provide a lifeline for beleaguered coach Giuseppe Iachini, who had been expected to lose his job if they lost, and Sassuolo beat lowly Carpi 1-0.
Results
Serie A
Torino 0
Inter 1
Kondogbia 31;
HT: 0-1. Att: 24,000.
Empoli 1
Maccarone 19;
Juventus 3
Mandzukic 32; Evra 39; Dybala 84;
HT: 1-2. Att: 9,000.
Frosinone 2
Blanchard 31; Diakite 38;
Genoa 2
Pavoletti 6; Gakpe 75;
HT: 2-1. Att: 8,000.
Red card: De Maio (G) 37.
Palermo 1
Gilardino 71;
Chievo 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 14,176.
Roma 2
Dzeko 10 pen; Gervinho 63;
Lazio 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 35,000.
Sassuolo 1
Sansone 28;
Carpi 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 10,000.
Napoli 1
Higuain 53;
Udinese 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 35,000.
Sampdoria 0
Fiorentina 2
Ilicic 10 pen; Kalinic 58;
HT: 0-1. Att: 21,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Fiorentina | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 9 | 27 |
| Inter | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 27 |
| Roma | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 13 | 26 |
| Napoli | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 8 | 25 |
| Sassuolo | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 22 |
| Milan | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 16 | 20 |
| Juventus | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 18 |
| Atalanta | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 14 | 18 |
| Lazio | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 18 |
| Sampdoria | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 17 | 16 |
| Torino | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 18 | 15 |
| Palermo | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 14 |
| Empoli | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 14 |
| Chievo | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
| Genoa | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 13 |
| Bologna | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 12 |
| Udinese | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 12 |
| Frosinone | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 11 |
| Verona | 12 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 6 |
| Carpi | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 6 |
Top scorers
9 goals: Eder (Sampdoria), Higuain (Napoli).
7 goals: Kalinic (Fiorentina).
6 goals: Insigne (Napoli), Bacca (Milan), Gervinho (Roma).
Next fixtures
Saturday, Nov. 21: 18.00 Bologna vs Roma; 20.45 Juve vs Milan.
Sunday, Nov. 22: 12.30 Udinese vs Sampdoria. 15.00 Atalanta vs Torino; Carpi vs Chievo; Fiorentina vs Empoli; Genoa vs Sassuolo; Lazio vs Palermo; Verona vs Napoli. 20.45 Inter vs Frosinone.
Serie B
Perugia vs Lanciano - 2-0
Today:
Crotone vs Avellino - 20.30
Lega Pro
Group A
Padova vs Pordenone 0-0; Piacenza vs Cremonese 0-1; AlbinoLeffe vs FeralpiSalo 1-5. Today: 20.00 Reggiana vs Cuneo.
Group B
Rimini vs Prato 0-1; Pisa vs L’Aquila 3-0; Teramo vs Arezzo 1-1. Tuttocuoio vs Torres pp.
Group C
Benevento vs Paganese 1-0; Catania vs Akragas 1-1; Melfi vs Lamezia pp; Monopoli vs Fidelis Andria 0-0; Casertana vs Martina 2-0; Catanzaro vs Lecce 2-1.