Ronaldinho treble boosts Rossoneri bid

A Ronaldinho hat-trick helped AC Milan record a 4-0 victory over AC Siena that hauled them to within six points of the Serie A summit with a game in hand, on a day when Juventus slipped to fifth due to a 1-0 loss at AC Chievo Verona.

Curci red card
FC Internazionale Milano's 2-2 draw at AS Bari on Saturday opened the door for their city rivals to reduce the gap at the top ahead of their derby meeting next weekend, and the Rossoneri duly obliged with their eighth league success in nine outings. Brazilian forward Ronaldinho got the ball rolling against basement side Siena from the penalty spot on 12 minutes, after goalkeeper Gianluca Curci was dismissed for fouling Marco Borriello, before Borriello himself volleyed in 16 minutes later. The in-form Ronaldinho then headed in a David Beckham corner on 72 minutes and completed his treble close to full time to take his tally to six goals in his last three outings.

Toni tonic
Another player enjoying a return to the limelight is striker Luca Toni, who fired his first two goals for AS Roma since joining on loan from FC Bayern München to help engineer a 3-0 win over Genoa CFC that lifted the capital outfit to third. They now find themselves ahead of SSC Napoli, who drew 0-0 with US Città di Palermo, and Ciro Ferrara's ailing Juventus, whose defeat at Chievo was their seventh in ten matches in all competitions.

Bologna boost
ACF Fiorentina could have moved level with Napoli and Juve on points but suffered a 2-1 reverse at home against Bologna FC. That win took the visitors three points clear of the relegation zone, while third-bottom Atalanta BC aided their cause by overcoming S.S. Lazio 3-0 and second-bottom Calcio Catania drew 1-1 at UC Sampdoria. In the day's other game, Parma FC drew 0-0 with Udinese Calcio despite losing Daniele Galloppa to a 31st-minute red card.