Inter Milan returned to winning ways while Lazio failed to take a slice out of AC Milan's lead at the top.
Win eases pressure on Benitez; Lazio miss opportunity
Inter Milan returned to winning ways in Serie A while Lazio failed to take a slice out of AC Milan's lead at the top.
Rafa Benitez has come under pressure at the San Siro in recent weeks as champions
Inter were without a league win in four prior to Sunday's 5-2 success over
Parma.
Former Nerazzurri striker Hernan Crespo, 35, opened the scoring for Parma but two deflected Dejan Stankovic strikes in the space of a minute overturned the early deficit.
Esteban Cambiasso poked in a third before Crespo got the visitors back into it with his second. Inter looked comfortable in the second half, though, as Thiago Motta added a fourth before Stankovic completed his hat-trick.
With league leaders Milan being held on Saturday,
Lazio had the chance to move within a point of top spot, but they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to
Catania.
Both goals came on the stroke of half-time and it was the visitors who took the lead through Matias Silvestre before Anderson Hernanes made an instant reply.
Elsewhere,
Napoli missed the chance to go third as they went down 3-1 at
Udinese, who move into the top half with the three points.
It was all too easy for Udinese and Antonio Di Natale netted a hat-trick without reply as the hosts raced into a comfortable lead before the hour mark. Slovakian Marek Hamsik pulled one back but it was too little too late for Napoli.
Stunned
Palermo stunned in-form
Roma, bringing their seven-match unbeaten run to an abrupt halt.
Fabrizio Miccoli fired the hosts in front at Renzo Barbera after 19 minutes, calmly converting a Josip Illicic pass.
Illicic then got his own name on the scoresheet on the hour mark, before Antonio Nocerino added a third five minutes late.
A stunned Roma did offer a late reply through Francesco Totti, but they slip below Palermo in the standings and sit eight points adrift of AC Milan.
Meanwhile,
Brescia and
Genoa played out a goalless draw but there was no shortage of goals in
Cagliari, where the hosts ran out 3-2 winners over
Lecce.
An Alessandro Matri brace and a Michele Canini strike put Cagliari in cruise control by half-time. Second-half goals from Ruben Olivera and David Di Michele were not enough for Lecce.
At the San Nicola stadium, it took over an hour for the deadlock to be broken but home side
Bari came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with
Cesena.
Giuseppe Colucci dispatched a 61st minute penalty after Luis Jimenez was penalised but Bari were level within a minute as Francesco Caputo ensured a point.
