Napoli, Fiorentina, Juve and Roma keep pressure on Inter

Gonzalo Higuain took his Serie A goals tally to 16 from 17 games as 10-man Napoli moved to within a point of leaders Inter Milan with a 3-1 away win at Atalanta on Sunday.

With a four-point cushion on Fiorentina and Napoli before the final Serie A games of 2015, Inter Milan will start the New Year top of the pile irrespective of their result against Lazio in Sunday's later clash.

But Roberto Mancini's men were kept on a tight rein after Napoli, Fiorentina, Roma and Juventus all won their respective final games before the league takes a two-week break.

Juventus had moved up to second earlier with a patchy 3-2 win at Carpi that gave the champions their seventh consecutive victory as they continue to make amends for a disastrous start to the campaign.

Massimiliano Allegri's men are now fourth, at three points behind Inter and two behind Fiorentina and Napoli, following respective wins for the pair.

In Florence, Nikola Kalinic broke the deadlock in the 20th minute and strike partner Josip Ilicic doubled their lead with a fine dipping strike from outside the area that beat Bizzarri at the 'keeper's far post.

Atalanta, who stunned Roma 2-0 in the Italian capital a fortnight ago, had pledged to make life hard for Napoli in Bergamo.

But seven minutes after the restart Napoli captain Marek Hamsik beat Davide Bassi from the penalty spot and although Atalanta pulled level two minutes later thanks to Alejandro Gomez's low strike, Higuain restored the visitors' lead with a flicked-on header that beat Davide Bassi at the keeper's near post.

The Argentinian celebrated stretching his league-leading tally to 15 goals by running half the length of the pitch to hug coach Maurizio Sarri.

Higuain later told Sky: "Few teams have come here and played well, but we did -- you can see from the result.

"I'm happy for the goals, I'm working hard and if I'm feeling good then it's all down to the coach, to the club and to my teammates."

Napoli's Brazilian midfielder Jorginho saw red for a studs-up challenge, but Higuain put the result beyond doubt when he powered down the right and held off his marker to beat Bassi with an angled strike.

Edin Dzeko was sent off for dissent in the second half at the Stadio Olimpico, where Alessandro Florenzi's close-range volley gave the embattled hosts a 42nd minute lead against Genoa.

But 18-year-old Nigerian Umar Sadiq, who replaced Mohamed Salah eight minutes from the end, eased any late nerves when he ghosted in at the back post to head past Mattia Perin to score his maiden Serie A goal and spark wild Roma celebrations.

The 2-0 win ended a four-game winless streak for Rudi Garcia's men, who remain in fifth spot at four points behind Inter and one behind Juventus.

Florenzi followed his goal by hugging under-fire Garcia, who said afterwards: "Of course we're emotional, but it shows how important it was for us to give it everything tonight to try and win this game.

"We went down to 10 men for the last 15-20 minutes, so the lads deserve all the credit for holding on and coming up with the second goal."

Elsewhere, goals from Ignazio Abate, Carlos Bacca, Alex and Giacomo Bonaventura eased the pressure on AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic in a nervous 4-2 win at Frosinone, who saw Daniel Ciofani hit a 19th minute opener and Federico Dionisi reduce arrears six minutes from time.

Vincenzo Montella secured his first win as Sampdoria coach in a 2-0 defeat of Palermo in Genoa where Roberto Soriano and David Ivan were on target.

Udinese were reduced to 10 men when Molla Wague saw red on 64 minutes but the northerners held on for a precious 1-0 win at Torino thanks to Stipe Perica's 41st minute strike.

Inter will restore their four-point advantage over Fiorentina and Napoli later Sunday if they overcome a struggling Lazio side at the San Siro.

Lazio are on a seven-game winless run that has dropped them to 12th place at 16 points behind Inter.
Source: AFP