Patience rewarded as Inter race clear

A late Diego Milito penalty earned FC Internazionale Milano a 1-0 victory over ACF Fiorentina that lifted them seven points clear of new closest rivals AC Milan, who left it late to beat Calcio Catania 2-0.

Spirits raised
Defeated at FC Barcelona in midweek, Inter raised their spirits with the slenderest of wins over their fellow UEFA Champions League hopefuls. Goalkeeper Sébastien Frey was in stubborn form for Fiorentina and denied Milito from close range in the second half, but the Argentinian striker ultimately had the last word from the spot with five minutes remaining after being brought down by Gianluca Comotto.

Nenê breakthrough
Juventus also experienced defeat in the UEFA Champions League on Matchday 5, succumbing to FC Girondins de Bordeaux, but there was to be no weekend fillip for Ciro Ferrara's men as they lost 2-0 at Cagliari Calcio. Missing a number of key players through injury, the Bianconeri were first undone by a ferocious Nenê strike from distance with half an hour gone, before their hopes were ended by Alessandro Matri on the counterattack a minute from time. Milan took advantage in the late game to move a point ahead of Juventus with Klaas Jan Huntelaar notching twice in second-half stoppage time.

Roma rise
Parma FC experienced frustration as they could only draw 1-1 at home with SSC Napoli, who lost Matteo Contini to a late red card. That denied Francesco Guidolin's charges the chance to hoist themselves up into third place, though the point raised them to fifth, three rungs higher than AS Bari, who downed bottom side AC Siena 2-1. Elsewhere, AS Roma took themselves into the top half of the table by coming back to win 2-1 at Atalanta BC, capital neighbours S.S. Lazio drew 0-0 with Bologna FC and AC Chievo Verona saw off US Città di Palermo 1-0.