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Serie A round-up

Image: Alessandro Matri of Juventus is tackled by Udinese's Maurizio Domizzi on Wednesday

Juventus joined AC Milan at the top after a draw with Udinese, while there were big wins for Inter Milan and Napoli.

Genoa put to the sword, Roma triumph on the road

Juventus moved level with AC Milan at the top of the Serie A table after a scoreless draw against Udinese, while there were big wins for Inter Milan and Napoli on Wednesday night. Antonio Conte's side became the first visitors to take anything from Stadio Friuli this season after the 0-0 result, meaning they remain unbeaten heading into the Italian winter break. Claudio Marchisio twice came within a whisker of a goal for Juventus, while Giorgio Chiellini saw Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic keep out his header in the early stages of the second half. The home side's best chance fell to winger Mauricio Isla, but the Chilean saw his attempted chip blocked by the onrushing Gianluigi Buffon. Udinese still remain in the final UEFA Champions League spot after Chievo got a 0-0 draw at Lazio, whose failure to make the most of home advantage allowed Inter Milan and Napoli to close the gap.

Comprehensive wins

Inter actually fell behind at home to rock-bottom Lecce, Luis Muriel giving Serie A's basement dwellers a shock lead at the San Siro. However, Giampaolo Pazzini levelled matters before the break and, almost immediately after coming on in place of Diego Forlan, Diego Milito put the hosts ahead just four minutes after the re-start. Esteban Cambiasso (72) made certain of the three points and Ricky Alvarez added a fourth late on. Napoli went even better at home to Genoa, Edinson Cavani bagging a brace of goals in a comprehensive 6-1 triumph. An effort from Marek Hamsik was sandwiched in between Cavani's double, while Goran Pandev, Walter Gargano and Juan Zuniga also found the net. Genoa's lone reply on a tough night came from Cristobal Jorquera. Roma were also victorious, Rodrigo Taddei and Pablo Osvaldo on the scoresheet in a 2-0 result against 10-man Bologna.
Late drama
Elsewhere, struggling Novara came back from 2-0 down to get a draw against Palermo, who had gone in front through a Carlos Alberto Ludi own goal before Josip Ilicic saw red shortly before the interval. Nicolas Bertolo doubled their advantage but Andrea Mazzarani pulled one back and Novara - who remain in the bottom three despite the result - grabbed a point when Marco Rigoni was on target with five minutes to play. There was also a dramatic draw in Parma, the home side sharing six goals with Catania. Francesco Modesto, Jonathan Biabiany and Sergio Floccari all scored in the first half as Parma went in at the break 3-1 up. Catania, who had seen Sergio Almiron find the net after 22 minutes, responded impressively, Francesco Lodi scoring from the spot and Andrea Catellani salvaging a point with an 85th-minute leveller. Atalanta triumphed 4-1 at home to lowly Cesena, despite going a goal behind when they let in Antonio Candreva. Guido Marilungo scored twice after a German Denis penalty had made it 1-1, with Federico Peluso rounding off the scoring in the 72nd minute.

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