Inter shatter Juve title hopes

Martins opener
Leaders Milan drew early on in the day to give Juve a chance to close the gap to seven points but the Turin side fell behind when Obafemi Martins found the net on six minutes. Kily González poked Mauro Camoranesi's cross into his own net to level the scores but Christian Vieri restored Inter's lead from the penalty spot just before half-time.

Ten-point gap
Dejan Stankovic nudged the home team further ahead two minutes after the break and a quarter of an hour later Juve were reduced to ten men when Montero received a second booking. Marco Di Vaio's added-time header came too late for Marcello Lippi's men, who now sit ten points behind Inter's city rivals with six matches remaining.

Milan held
Milan dropped points for the second weekend running when they were held by relegation-threatened Modena FC, who scored a 52nd-minute leveller through Nicola Amoruso. Jon Dahl Tomasson had given the leaders a 41st-minute lead when he swept the ball past Adriano Zancope after the Modena goalkeeper had failed to hold Clarence Seedorf's stinging drive.

Rampant Roma
The top two's failures gave hope to Fabio Capello's AS Roma, who climbed back into second place by virtue of their 3-0 victory away to US Lecce. After a goalless first half, Emerson opened the scoring with a header, Cesare Bovo's 54th-minute own goal doubled the margin and Francesco Totti scored from the penalty spot in added time to take his season's tally to 16. The capital club are nine points behind Carlo Ancelotti's Milan with a game in hand.

Lazio pushing
Brazilian César scored a hat-trick as Roma's neighbours S.S. Lazio maintained their push for a place in next season's UEFA Champions League by defeating AC Siena 5-2. The South American defender opened the scoring after three minutes but his side fell behind when Gianni Guigou's leveller was followed by Rodrigo Taddei's 24th-minute strike for the visitors. Stefano Fiore restored parity on the half-hour and César added two more before Bernardo Corradi's 78th-minute goal completed Lazio's comeback.

Fava winner
Parma AC remain level on points with fourth-placed Lazio after racking up a 2-0 away win against AC Chievo Verona. Marco Marchionni latched on to a pass from Alberto Gilardino for the opener on 30 minutes and the two combined again for Gilardino's 15th goal of the season 20 minutes from time. Udinese Calcio are two places further down, below Inter, after their 4-3 victory against visiting Brescia Calcio, Dino Fava grabbing the winner after the home side had thrown away a three-goal lead.

Ancona relegated
Ancona Calcio's return to Serie B was confirmed on Sunday when they lost for the 21st time this season, going down 1-0 at home against eighth-placed UC Sampdoria. Fabio Bazzani's solitary goal was enough to condemn winless Ancona to relegation. Empoli FC's bid to avoid the drop was boosted by defeating 17th-placed AC Perugia 1-0 thanks to Tommaso Rocchi's second-half strike and Bologna FC drew 2-2 at home against Reggina Calcio.