Napoli close in on Juve

  • Last Updated: January 27 2013, 23:10 GMT

A review of the weekend's action in Italy's Serie A as Napoli closed the gap on leaders Juventus.

Edinson Cavani: Late winner for Napoli
Edinson Cavani: Late winner for Napoli

Edinson Cavani struck a late winner at Parma as Napoli took full advantage of a slip from Juventus to close back to within three points of the Serie A pacesetters.

It appeared Napoli would have to settle for a draw at the Stadio Ennio Tardini after Paolo Cannavaro's own goal cancelled out Marek Hamsik's first-half opener.

However, Cavani had other ideas and the in-form Uruguayan raced clear five minutes from the end to decide a 2-1 victory and inflict a first home league defeat in 10 months on Parma.

With Juve's management going into meltdown after Saturday night's 1-1 draw with Genoa, and Lazio losing ground due to a 1-0 home defeat to Chievo, Napoli are well-placed to launch an assault on top spot.

In the late game, Inter Milan were lucky to salvage a 2-2 draw at the San Siro after being run ragged by a Torino side inspired by Riccardo Meggiorini.

Cristian Chivu had given the Nerazzurri the lead from a free-kick but two goals from ex-Inter man Meggiorini soon turned the game on its head, only for Esteban Cambiasso to find the equaliser to spare the home team's blushes.

A solitary goal from Stephan El Shaarawy had already seen AC Milan climb above Fiorentina, who lost at Catania, following a 1-0 win over Atalanta.

The talented striker's clinical finish earned the visitors all three points in Bergamo, while Atalanta's bid for a first win in six games unravelled when Davide Brivio was sent off in the second half.

Inter's one-point haul means Milan could finally leapfrog their city rivals into fourth with victory over Udinese next week, should their neighbours lose at Siena.

Fiorentina found themselves down in sixth as Catania came from behind to win 2-1 and deny Vincenzo Montella any joy on his return to Sicily.

Giulio Migliaccio put Montella's new club on the road to victory with a header before Nicola Legrottaglie pegged the visitors back shortly after the break.

Alberto Aquilani's late dismissal proved costly, though, as Lucas Castro snatched the winner two minutes from time.

Bologna and Roma shared six goals in an entertaining 3-3 draw at the Renato Dall'Ara.

Alessandro Florenzi gave Roma the early lead but Alberto Gilardino soon levelled. Pablo Osvaldo put Roma back in front only for Manolo Gabbiadini to restore parity before the break.

Cristian Pasquato put Bologna ahead as play resumed but Panagiotis Tachtsidis scored the final goal in the 74th minute.

There were also six goals at the Marassi, with Mauro Icardi scoring four times as Sampdoria claimed an emphatic 6-0 victory over fellow strugglers Pescara.

Eder set Samp on their way from the penalty spot and Icardi doubled their advantage before the interval.

The floodgates opened after the restart, Pedro Obiang making it 3-0 before Icardi took centre stage with three further goals to seal the rout.

Palermo, meanwhile, remain mired in a relegation battle after substitute Thiago Ribeiro salvaged a 1-1 draw for Cagliari.

A remarkable finish from Josip Ilicic set the Rosanero on the road to a rare victory but Ribeiro pounced on the stroke of full-time.

Elsewhere, a solitary goal from Luis Muriel was enough for Udinese to seal a 1-0 win over basement boys Siena.

On Saturday, Juve could only draw 1-1 with Genoa.

On a night when former France striker Nicolas Anelka was reported to be signing for them, Juve went ahead through Fabio Quagliarella in the 54th minute, but were pegged back by Marco Borriello's 68th-minute leveller.

Juve were left fuming when two late penalty appeals were turned down.

Earlier in the day, Alberto Paloschi sealed a smash-and-grab 1-0 win for Chievo, who needed just one sight of goal to snatch the points against a wasteful Lazio.


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