A busy afternoon in Serie A saw Napoli come back to beat Lazio, but top-four hopefuls Udinese fell to Lecce.
Wins for Napoli, Juve Lecce, Bari, Catania and Cagliari
A busy afternoon in Serie A saw Napoli come back to beat Lazio, but top-four hopefuls Udinese fell to Lecce.
Rock-bottom Bari managed a victory at struggling Parma, sparking the departure of manager Pasquale Marino, while there were other wins for Catania and Cagliari.
Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick as
Napoli came back from 2-0 and 3-2 down to beat
Lazio 4-3 and cling on to their title hopes. Napoli moved up to second and trail leaders AC Milan by just three points.
Goals from Stefano Mauri and Andre Dias gave Lazio a two-goal lead before Andrea Dossena and Cavani, with his first, levelled matters.
A Salvatore Aronica own goal put the visitors back in front but Cavani, from the penalty spot, equalised and then hit a splendid winner for Walter Mazzarri's team.
Juventus scored twice in the second half at the Stadio Olimpico to beat
Roma 2-0 and stay in the hunt for European football next season.
Milos Krasic struck shortly before the hour mark and Alessandro Matri notched Juve's second in the 74th minute.
Juve closed the gap on sixth-place Roma to just two points with seven games remaining.
The defeat was Roma's first under coach Vincenzo Montella and prevented the Giallorossi from gaining ground on fourth-place Udinese.
Lecce inflicted a first defeat of the year on
Udinese to move out of the bottom three and dent the Bianconeri's hopes of UEFA Champions League qualification.
Andrea Bertolacci netted twice in the second half to inflict a first defeat in 14 matches on Francesco Guidolin's fourth-placed team, who had won six of their previous seven games and were unbeaten in 13 going into this contest.
Fabio Caserta grabbed a late equaliser for
Cesena but could not prevent them dropping into the relegation zone with a 2-2 draw against
Fiorentina.
The home side went ahead from Luis Jimenez's free-kick but Alberto Gilardino and Riccardo Montolivo replied to give Fiorentina the lead.
Caserta struck with just three minutes remaining to secure a share of the spoils, but Lecce's win over Udinese means Cesena drop into the bottom three.
Genoa fell to their first home defeat since 16th January as they were beaten 1-0 by
Cagliari to end any lingering hopes they had of playing in Europe next season.
Genoa were beaten by one of their own too with Robert Acquafresca, who is currently on loan from them to Cagliari until the end of the season, scoring the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.
The home side can have no complaints either, despite rallying after a dismal first half. Cagliari's win takes them above Bologna into 10th, just three points behind seventh-placed Juventus and a possible place in the Europa League next season.
Glimmer of hope
Bari substitute Edgar Alvarez scored in injury time at
Parma to give Bari a 2-1 victory and keep their faint hopes of remaining in Serie A alive.
Rooted at the bottom of the table, Bari took a 64th-minute lead when Alessandro Parisi's free-kick beat home goalkeeper Antonio Mirante.
However, Parma striker Amauri looked as if he had earned a point with an 80th-minute header.
The struggling Galletti claimed a precious victory, however, at the Ennio Tardini stadium thanks to Alvarez's goal, and Parma boss Marino was sacked soon after the final whistle.
Catania boosted their survival hopes by producing a blistering second-half display to thrash eighth-placed
Palermo 4-0 at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.
Federico Balzaretti's own goal three minutes after the restart proved the catalyst for the Sicilians, with further goals from Gonzalo Bergessio and substitutes Pablo Ledesma and Simone Pesce sealing the rout.
The comprehensive victory moved Diego Simeone's side up a place to 14th in the standings and gave them a five-point cushion over the drop zone.
Sampdoria ended a four-game losing run at fellow strugglers
Chievo but the point from a lifeless goalless draw will hardly inspire confidence that they can pull away from the relegation zone.
Samp have now failed to score in six of their past seven games and looked devoid of ideas again with Massimo Maccarone missing their best chance before being substituted.
In the end both sides were indebted to the profligacy of the other with Chievo, who themselves have gone goalless in four of their past five matches, offering little to entertain their home fans.
