Serie A: Inter in party mood as Juve stumble

by setanta.com staff , 17 May 2009

Inter celebrated their fourth successive Serie A title with a resounding 3-0 win over Siena in front of their home fans on Sunday night, while Juventus saw Fiorentina close in on third place.

Milan’s 2-1 defeat to Udinese on Saturday ensured that the Scudetto will be heading to their city rivals and Jose Mourinho’s men put on a show as they enjoyed the adulation of the San Siro.

Esteban Cambiasso (45), Mario Balotelli (52) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (76) secured a comfortable victory over Siena, who are comfortably midtable in 14th, ten points clear of relegation with two games remaining.

Mourinho has led Inter to their 17th league title, drawing them level with rivals Milan but still ten short of Juventus.

In this season's table, Inter are ten points clear of Milan with two games remaining, while Juventus are a further three behind and just one ahead of Fiorentina, who will now be eyeing third place and automatic qualification for the Champions League last season.

Claudio Ranieri’s Juventus allowed Fiorentina to close in after drawing 2-2 with Atalanta, with Vincenzo Iaquinta (26) and Cristiano Zanetti (36) scoring for the home side in Turin and Luca Cigarini (2) and Maximiliano Pellegrino (44) on target for the visitors in a frantic first half.

Fiorentina duly closed the gap to just one point after an Alberto Gilardino goal on 21 minutes handed them a 1-0 home win over Sampdoria.

That result all but ends Genoa’s hopes of Champions League football as they are now five points shy of Fiorentina, but the Rossoblu did secure a place in next season’s Europa League following a 2-2 home draw with Chievo.

Reported Premier League target Diego Milito (58, pen) and Ruben Olivera (71) gave Genoa the lead after Giampiero Pinzi’s opener (35), but Sergio Pellissier struck with five minutes remaining as Chievo claimed what could be a crucial point.

The Verona club are now only four points clear of relegation after 18th-placed Bologna secured a dramatic 2-1 home win over Lecce, who now need a miracle to remain in Serie A as they are five points adrift of safety with two games remaining.

Lecce had taken the lead through Simone Tiribocchi (30) but goals from Marco di Vaio (37) and Sergio Volpi (90) defeated the visitors, who had Dimitrios Papadopoulos dismissed in the second half.

Bologna were denied an escape from the relegation zone though as Torino, the team immediately above them in the table, maintained their one-point advantage with a 2-1 win at Napoli.

Joao Inacio Pia (41) put Napoli in front but Rolando Bianchi (52) and Alessandro Rosina (72) turned the game on its head to gift Torino an all-important victory.

Reggina retain some hope of escaping relegation following a 2-1 win over Cagliari but remain four points adrift of safety with two games remaining.

Reggina started the day at the foot of the table and, although they went behind to an Andrea Lazzari strike after 18 minutes, goals from Fabio Ceravolo (25) and Franco Brienza (49) secured the victory.

In Serie A’s other game on Sunday, Palermo defeated Lazio 2-0 following goals from Fabrizio Miccoli (6, pen) and Giulio Migliaccio (87).

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