The pressure was piling up on Inter coach Jose Mourinho following a dismal loss to Barcelona in the Champions League, and a win was the least that the former Chelsea boss would have wanted in order to prove his worth to Nerazzurri president Massimo Moratti. Towards the end of a hard fought game, Gianluca Comotto committed a blatant foul on Diego Milito in the area, leaving the referee with no choice but to signal for a penalty. The Argentine took the spot-kick and gave his side the lead, which was eventually enough to take the three points that were on offer.

Juventus are now eight points adrift of the Italian champions, following a disheartening 2-0 loss to Cagliari at the Stadio Sant’Elia. Nene sent a screamer on the half hour mark for the Rossoblu to draw first blood, leaving the Bianconeri to chase to game from that point. As Ciro Ferrara’s men surged forward in search of a leveller, the hosts struck again during the death, when Alessandro Matri competently finished a counterattack to seal the result for his side.

Elsewhere in the Derby della Lanterna, Genoa won 3-0 against Sampdoria in a game that saw two penalties and three red cards. A foul on Rodrigo Palacio by Reto Ziegler saw the referee point to the spot, and Omar Milanetto made no mistake as he sent the goalkeeper diving the wrong way. Giuseppe Biava headed for an early shower on just before half-time, but the designated hosts somehow doubled their lead when a superb pass found its way to Marco Rossi, who competently did the honours. Meanwhile, the other Marco Rossi – Blucerchiati player on loan from Parma – was given marching orders for a second bookable offence, while Fabrizio Cacciatore would join him later on after receiving a straight red for a terrible challenge on Ivan Juric, but not before Gian Piero Gasperini’s men had scored a third. Raffaele Palladino had scored from the spot to triple the lead and put the game to rest.

Here are the results:

Atalanta 1-2 Roma
Bari 2-1 Siena
Cagliari 2-0 Juventus
Catania 0-2 Milan
Chievo 1-0 Palermo
Genoa 3-0 Sampdoria
Inter 1-0 Fiorentina
Lazio 0-0 Bologna
Parma 1-1 Napoli
Udinese 2-0 Livorno

Football Italiano