Juventus climbed back into the top spot with a home win, while Inter Milan continued their revival against beleaguered hosts Cesena.
Juve and Inter triumph; Parma pile more woe on Lecce
Juventus climbed back into the top spot with a home win, while Inter Milan continued their Serie A revival against beleaguered hosts Cesena.
Udinese could only manage a draw at Lazio as they missed the chance to go second but Roma produced an impressive win at Napoli.
Parma and Lecce shared the spoils in an entertaining draw, while Catania and Genoa enjoyed respective wins.
Juventus returned to the summit of the table with a 2-0 home victory over lowly
Novara.
Simone Pepe set Juve on their way with a fourth-minute opener and Fabio Quagliarella added a second 15 minutes from time as the Turin outfit moved back above AC Milan, who beat Siena on Saturday night.
Leaders
The win puts Juve two points clear at the top, while at the other end of the table Novara remain rooted in the bottom two.
Udinese could have joined the Bianconeri on 33 points with a win over
Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico but could only manage a 2-2 draw.
It looked promising for the visitors when Antonio Floro Flores put them ahead after 27 minutes but a Senad Lulic equaliser and a Miroslav Klose goal put the visitors on the back foot.
Udinese found an equaliser with 17 minutes to go, however, through Giampiero Pinzi.
Roma moved level on points with sixth-placed
Napoli after an impressive 3-1 win at the Stadio San Paolo.
An own-goal from Morgan De Sanctis put the Giallorossi in front in the third minute and Daniel Osvaldo doubled their lead in the 59th minute.
Marek Hamsik pulled a goal back for Napoli eight minutes from time but Fabio Simplicio earned a crucial win for Roma and their coach Luis Enrique in the last minute.
Andrea Ranocchia's 63rd-minute goal gave
Inter Milan a third successive win to continue their resurgence.
Ranocchi headed in Maicon's cross to give Claudio Ranieri's men a 1-0 victory over struggling hosts
Cesena at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi.
A goal four minutes into injury time by Daniele Galloppa rescued a point for
Parma after rock-bottom
Lecce squandered a two-goal lead.
Sergio Floccari had given Parma a first-half lead with a penalty before Lecce went 3-1 up through a David di Michele double and a Juan Cuadrado strike.
However, Graziano Pelle pulled one back with four minutes to go before Galloppa's late intervention sealed a 3-3 draw to break Lecce hearts.
It meant Lecce still have only two victories from 15 games while Parma claimed another point as they look to keep clear of the drop zone.
Catania tasted victory on their last appearance at home in 2011 as they eased past
Palermo 2-0.
The meeting with Devis Mangia's men was Catania's last fixture at Stadio Angelo Massimino this year, and goals from Francesco Lodi and Maxi Lopez ensured they marked it with a first win in four.
They were met with little resistence from their visitors, who will be ruing the missing the chance to break into the top six with a win.
Bounced back
Genoa bounced back from defeat to Inter Milan in midweek to beat struggling
Bologna 2-1 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Marco Rossi put the home side in front just before the break, but Gaston Ramirez levelled 10 minutes into the second half.
Lucas Pratto's first goal in Serie A five minutes from time then earned the Rossoblu all three points and condemned Bologna to their eighth defeat of the season.
