Inter's imperious march towards the title continued as nearest rivals Roma and Juventus slipped up.
Leaders win as pursuers stumble
Internazionale's imperious march towards the title continued as nearest rivals Roma and Juventus both slipped up.
Reigning Serie A champions Inter battled to a 1-0 home win over Empoli as Roma lost at Siena and Juventus were held at home by Cagliari.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's penalty on 34 minutes was enough to secure
Inter the points against second-bottom
Empoli at Giuseppe Meazza.
French midfielder Patrick Vieira was sent off for Inter just before half-time for two yellow cards, and Empoli's Luca Saudati missed an 83rd minute penalty.
Siena climbed out of the bottom three after a 3-0 win at home to
Roma, who are now eight points behind the leaders.
Simone Vergassola put Siena ahead on 11 minutes before Roma defender Max Tonetto scored an own goal just before the break.
Mario Frick's 83rd minute effort put the seal on an impressive success for the top-flight strugglers.
Juventus are now 12 points off Inter after drawing 1-1 at home to bottom club
Cagliari.
Paolo Bianco gave Cagliari the lead 10 minutes into the second half, although Juve levelled within 60 seconds through Pavel Nedved.
AC Milan continued their recent resurgence in Serie A as they picked up a 1-0 win away at
Fiorentina.
Brazilian youngster Alexandre Pato stepped off the bench to grab the winner 15 minutes from time to send Milan up to fifth, just four points outside the UEFA Champions League places.
Torino won the battle of two teams fighting to avoid relegation after a 3-1 triumph at
Reggina, who slip into the bottom three.
Alessandro Rosina's gave Torino the lead on 23 minutes and it was 2-0 on 34 minutes through Roberto Stellone.
Reggina pulled one back through substitute Nicola Amoruso just before the hour mark, only for Rosina to convert a penalty on 66 minutes.
Tommaso Rocchi's 77th minute clinched an important 2-1 home win for
Lazio over
Sampdoria.
Lazio had earlier gone in front through Stefano Mauri's 37th minute goal before Samp equalised at the end of the first half through Antonio Cassano.
Atalanta remain in the hunt for European football after hanging on for a 3-2 success at
Parma.
Maximiliano Pellegrino put the visitors ahead on 17 minutes before Parma levelled on 39 minutes through Cristiano Lucarelli, who had missed from the spot five minutes earlier.
Second-half goals from Gianpaolo Bellini and Sergio Floccari earned Atalanta the win before substitute Andrea Gasbarroni tucked away a last-minute penalty.
Marco Boriello was the hero for
Genoa as he struck a 71st minute penalty in a 2-1 victory at home to
Catania.
Danilo Sacramento had fired Genoa into an early lead before Catania drew level on 59 minutes through Cesare Bovo's own goal.
Click below for an individual match summary
Fiorentina 0 Milan 1
Genoa 2 Catania 1
Internazionale 1 Empoli 0
Juventus 1 Cagliari 1
Lazio 2 Sampdoria 1
Parma 2 Atalanta 3
Reggina 1 Torino 3
Siena 3 Roma 0
