The race for a place in the UEFA Europa League continued
to heat up as Inter, Milan and Torino all posted Serie A victories on Sunday.
Sampdoria were haunted by ex-player Mauro Icardi, who
scored twice in Inter's 4-0 victory at Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris.
In a match that saw coaches Walter Mazzarri and Sinisa
Mihajlovic face their former clubs, Icardi also came face-to-face with Maxi
Lopez amid a much-publicised spat between the two, centred around the
relationship between Icardi and Lopez's ex-wife.
Icardi broke the deadlock in an ill-tempered first half,
which saw Lopez miss a penalty, before Sampdoria were reduced to 10 men when
Eder - initially booked for simulation - was handed another caution for his
part in a melee that included an altercation between him and Inter goalkeeper Samir
Handanovic.
Inter took control of the match in the second half, with
Walter Samuel making it 2-0 on the hour-mark, and there was still time for
Icardi and Rodrigo Palacio to add to their lead as they moved fifth in the
table.
While Inter occupy the last guaranteed UEFA Europa League
spot, sixth place could also provide a berth in Europe's secondary competition
should Coppa Italia finalists Napoli and Fiorentina finish in the top five.
Parma sit sixth currently, but their 1-1 draw at
relegation-threatened Bologna allowed the chasing pack to gain ground.
They had Raffaele Palladino to thank for even getting a
point, with the attacker equalising in the 79th minute.
Milan were one of the sides to move closer to Parma as
their 1-0 win against rock-bottom Catania signalled a fourth straight league
success for the first time since March 2013.
Riccardo Montolivo's long-range drive in the first half
was the difference between the two sides as the visitors - who are now eight
points adrift of safety - were unable to provide new coach Maurizio Pellegrino
with a point on his second debut in charge of the club.
Catania had Fabian Rinaudo sent off in the closing
stages.
Torino climbed to seventh after a last-gasp 2-1 home win
over Genoa at Stadio Olimpico.
Alberto Gilardino thought he had given the visitors all
three points with an 85th-minute effort, but goals deep into injury time from
Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci gave Torino an incredible win.
Lazio's European hopes suffered a blow as Gonzalo
Higuain's hat-trick for third-placed Napoli saw them record a 4-2 win, while
Verona and Fiorentina played out an eight-goal thriller.
Alberto Aquilani scored twice for Fiorentina in their 5-3
triumph, while Juan Cuadrado, Borja Valero and Alessandro Matri also netted for
the victors.
Verona ended the game with 10 men after Marco Donadel was
sent off with 21 minutes left.
The day's other match saw Alberto Paloschi score a
hat-trick as Chievo won 4-2 at Livorno.
Culled from Soccerway
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