Juventus maintained top spot in Serie A and piled the misery on arch rivals Inter with a 2-1 victory at the San Siro last night.
The Bianconeri leapt back above Milan, who had briefly gone top with a 3-2 win at Roma earlier in the evening, by completing a Milanese double this season having already beaten Milan 2-0.
Goals from Mirko Vucinic and Claudio Marchisio either side of a deflected Maicon strike sealed the points for the Old Lady of Turin.
For Inter they now have just two wins and five defeats in their nine league matches this season and will drop below fifth from bottom if either Bologna or Novara win today.
Inter dominated large swathes of the opening period but still went in behind at the break.
Gianluigi Buffon saved Giampaolo Pazzini’s clever back-flick from Maicon’s weak shot while Esteban Cambiasso hooked the ball beyond the far post when well placed.
Juve went in front on 12 minutes. Stephan Lichtsteiner crossed from the right and although Luca Castellazzi saved Alessandro Matri’s initial effort, Vucinic smashed home the rebound.
That sparked Juve’s best spell of the half as Matri fired wide on the counter attack and then Castellazzi rushed out to block another effort from the striker.
Maicon equalised on 28 minutes after being played in by Wesley Sneijder, although his shot took a decisive deflection off Leonardo Bonucci to deceive Buffon.
Pazzini crashed a header off the bar from Maicon’s cross but Juve took the lead again.
Marchisio played a one-two with Matri and surged past Cristian Chivu, who had rashly stepped up, before sending a precise low strike beyond Castellazzi.
Juve could also have had a penalty when Castellazzi seemed to upend Marchisio as he clipped the ball past the goalkeeper.
The hosts struggled to create clear chances after the break and Vucinic, Alessandro Del Piero and Marcelo Estigarriba all missed glorious chances to kill the game.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a brace and Alessandro Nesta added the other for champions Milan at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome while Nicolas Burdisso and Bojan Krkic netted for the hosts.
“That’s three fundamental points. We played really well and with a bit of luck it could have finished 4-1 or 5-1,” said Ibrahimovic.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri was delighted with the Swede.
“Tonight he (Ibrahimovic) was excellent, he had an amazing game, as did (goalkeeper Christian) Abbiati who played very well and in some situations, like at 2-1, made important saves,” said Allegri.
“It was important for us to get some results because we’ve won our first direct clash (between title rivals) this season given that we’d already lost two (against Juve and Napoli).”
Meanwhile Napoli finished with 10 men and lost ground in the title race as they were beaten 2-1 at Catania.
Edinson Cavani gave Napoli a lightning start after just 29 seconds but goals from Giovanni Marchese and Gonzalo Bergessio condemned them to defeat after Mario Santana had been dismissed.
Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri felt his team deserved more.
“I’m happy with the way the team played, I’m disappointed to have lost in this way, it wasn’t deserved,” he said.
Results
Serie A
Catania 2
Marchese 25; Bergessio 48;
Napoli 1
Cavani 1;
HT: 1-1. Att: 10,000.
Red card: Santana (N) 43.
Inter 1
Maicon 28;
Juventus 2
Vucinic 12; Marchisio 33;
HT: 1-2. Att: 78,072.
Roma 2
Burdisso 28; Bojan 87;
Milan 3
Ibrahimovic 17, 78; Nesta 31;
HT: 1-2. Att: 44,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 19 |
| Milan | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 17 |
| Udinese | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 15 |
| Lazio | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 15 |
| Napoli | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 14 |
| Catania | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| Cagliari | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 13 |
| Palermo | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 13 |
| Genoa | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 12 |
| Roma | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Siena | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| Atalanta (-6) | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 9 |
| Fiorentina | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Chievo | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Parma | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 9 |
| Inter | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 8 |
| Bologna | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 7 |
| Novara | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 6 |
| Lecce | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 4 |
| Cesena | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 3 |
Playing today – 15.00
Bologna vs Atalanta
Cagliari vs Lazio - 20.45
Fiorentina vs Genoa
Lecce vs Novara
Parma vs Cesena
Siena vs Chievo - 12.30
Udinese vs Palermo
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Palermo vs Bologna; 20.45 Novara vs Roma.
Sunday: 12.30 Genoa vs Inter. 15.00 Milan vs Catania; Atalanta vs Cagliari; Cesena vs Lecce; Chievo vs Fiorentina; Lazio vs Parma; Udinese vs Siena. 20.45 Napoli vs Juventus.
Serie B
Brescia 0 - Reggina 3
Cittadella 1 - Verona 2
Crotone 2 - Padova 1
Livorno 1 - Gubbio 1
Nocerina 4 - Sampdoria 2
Sassuolo 1 - Grosseto 0
Torino 2 - Empoli 1
Varese 2 - Juve Stabia 1
Vicenza 2 - AlbinoLeffe 1
Standings: Torino 29; Pescara 25; Sassuolo 24; Reggina, Padova 23; Sampdoria, Varese 18; Grosseto, Bari 17; Livorno, Verona, Brescia 16; Crotone (-1) 15; Cittadella 14; Nocerina, Modena 13; Gubbio 11; Juve Stabia (-6), Vicenza, AlbinoLeffe 10; Empoli 8; Ascoli (-10) -1.