Del Piero decisive for Juve

By Paolo Corradini

A solitary goal by Alessandro Del Piero ensured Juventus FC remained six points clear at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win away against US Lecce on Sunday. Del Piero quickly got to grips with a difficult playing surface to settle the game on 14 minutes, scoring his fifth goal of the campaign after a wonderful assist from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Century struck
Second-placed AC Milan are themselves six points clear of the chasing pack after Andriy Shevchenko scored the 99th and 100th goals of his Serie A career in a 2-1 win against AC Siena at the San Siro. The Ukraine striker opened the scoring after 26 minutes but Siena quickly levelled through Stefano Argilli. Shevchenko's century came when he added what proved to be the decisive goal eight minutes before half-time.

Roma reeling
Udinese Calcio lost ground on the leading pair when they were held to a 1-1 draw against fourth-placed FC Messina Peloro, Davide Di Michele's third goal of the season restoring parity after Nicola Amoruso has given the visitors an early lead. But at the wrong end of the table, AS Roma are just one point away from the relegation zone after being defeated 1-0 at Reggina Calcio, for whom Emiliano Bonazzoli scored the decisive goal and Giacomo Tedesco was shown a red card late on.

Inter recovery
Despite retaining their unbeaten start to the season, FC Internazionale Milano slipped to seventh after their tenth draw in 12 games. But they did well to recover after Cagliari had taken a 3-1 lead by the hour mark through Gianfranco Zola, Antonio Langella and Mauro Esposito. Obafemi Martins scored twice to add to Dejan Stankovic's first-half goal and rescue a point for the visitors.

Tuscany tussle
In the Tuscany derby, ACF Fiorentina were held to a 1-1 draw at home by AC Livorno Calcio. Cristiano Lucarelli's second-half free-kick for the visitors cancelled out Cristian Rigano's opener. Meanwhile, strikes from Luca Toni and Franco Brienza gave US Città di Palermo a 2-0 win against UC Sampdoria and winless Atalanta BC drew 0-0 with Brescia Calcio.

Morfeo magic
In the day's other games, AC Chievo Verona drew 2-2 with ten-man Parma FC, for whom Domenico Morfeo salvaged a point with a 77th-minute leveller. Alessandro Potenza had earlier been sent off. Three red cards spoiled the game between S.S. Lazio and Bologna FC, which the capital club edged by the odd goal in three. After Lazio's Ousmane Dabo had been dismissed for a second bookable offence midway through the second half, Paolo Di Canio scored the decisive goal on 85 minutes. There was still time for him to be dismissed, along with Igli Tare, for a scuffle in the closing stages.