By DPA,
Rome : Brazilian striker Amauri notched up a brace to help Juventus beat AC Milan 4-2 to remain second place six points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan.
Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic also scored a brace in defending champions Inter’s 4-2 win over Chievo by the same scoreline Sunday.
Inter now have 39 points from 16 games, with Juve trailing on 33 and Napoli lying level with Milan on 30.
In pouring rain in Turin, Juve captain Alessandro Del Piero converted a spot kick in the 16th minute after being floored by Marek Jankulovski, but Milan almost levelled two minutes later as Massimo Ambrosini squandered an easy header before Alex Manninger.
Milan play maker Andrea Pirlo threatened with a nasty free kick in the 21st minutes, before Ronaldinho fed his Brazilian compatriot Pato for a flick into the empty net.
Juventus, however, again seized the lead three minutes later through a header from defender Giorgio Chiellini off a corner kick and closed the first half on 3-1 with a majestic downward header from Amauri.
After a good start from the hosts, Ambrosini lucked out in the 56th minutes as two defenders deflected his long-range drive to fool Manninger, but the Devils’ efforts were blunted when Gianluca Zambrotta was sent off on 65 minutes with a second yellow card.
A classy exchange with Mohamed Sissoko set up Amauri for a second goal that in the 69th minutes sank Milan’s hopes and brought his goal tally to 10 goals next to Ibrahimovic.
Fifth-place Fiorentina beat Catania 2-0 through goals from Adrian Mutu and Alberto Gilardino, who drew level on 12 goals with top scorers Marco Di Vaio of Bologna and Genoa’s Argentine Diego Milito.
Genoa and guests Atalanta are safe in mid-table after drawing 1-1 in a game that the hosts closed with 10 men against the nine-man Bergamo visitors.
An Antonio Di Natale brace was not enough for Udinese as Lazio rallied from three down to snatch a 3-3 draw in Udine, while Roma fought hard to prevail 3-2 at home to Cagliari.
Roma captain Francesco Totti put his team ahead, scoring his 170th goal in 405 Serie A games, and Montenegro striker Mirko Vucinic netted the winner after Cagliari took a 2-1 lead.