Milan cut Inter lead

Milan cut Inter lead

Ronaldinho netted a hat-trick as AC Milan eased to a 4-0 victory over bottom club Siena and cut Inter Milan's lead at the top of Serie A to six points.

The Brazil playmaker struck a first-half penalty, a second-half header and a long-range shot late on after Marco Borriello had hit the Rossoneri's second.

Siena's efforts to kick-start a dismal season were undermined by the 10th-minute dismissal of goalkeeper Gianluca Curci, which led to Ronaldinho's opening spot-kick as Leonardo's side cut Inter's lead after their 2-2 draw at Bari on Saturday.

Luca Toni bagged his first goals since returning to Italy as Roma beat Genoa 3-0.

Toni scored his first since joining the Eternal City outfit on loan from Bayern Munich this month on the stroke of half-time after team-mate Simone Perrotta had put Roma ahead in the 17th minute.

And Toni put the game beyond Genoa's reach on the hour mark.

The outcome allowed Roma to leapfrog Juventus into third in the standings after the Turin giants lost 1-0 at Chievo.

Gennaro Sardo's stunning first-half strike proved to be the only goal of the game as Juve turned in a performance lacking energy and confidence which comes on the back of a 3-0 hammering at the hands of AC Milan in their last league outing.

The Juventus board have voiced their confidence in coach Ciro Ferrara, and Wednesday's 3-0 Coppa Italia win over Napoli had boosted morale, but he is likely to come under scrutiny once again following an awful display in Verona.

Napoli goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis saved a penalty to help his team maintain their unbeaten home run this season with a 0-0 stalemate against Palermo.

De Sanctis parried away Fabrizio Miccoli's 22nd minute attempt after Rinaudo had brought down Edison Cavani inside the area.

The result left Napoli in fourth position in the standings, just one point behind third-place Roma.

Meanwhile, Palermo have now gone six games without a loss.

Lazio's unbeaten start to 2010 came to a shuddering halt at Atalanta as their woeful away form resurfaced with a 3-0 defeat in Bergamo.

The Biancoceleste have only managed to collect five points on their travels since a 2-1 win at Chievo on August 30 and they were second-best throughout against a side which started the day second-from-bottom.

The result was never in doubt after Cristiano Doni's double inside the opening nine minutes put them in total control and it was no surprise when Simone Padoin added a third 10 minutes before the break.

First-half goals from Henry Gimenez and Marco Di Vaio earned Bologna a valuable 2-1 away win at Fiorentina.

Gimenez put the visitors ahead after 28 minutes and Di Vaio added a second on the stroke of half-time.

Adrian Mutu pulled a goal back six minutes into the second half but Fiorentina could not find a second and Bologna secured a fifth win of the season.

Sampdoria's winless run was extended to seven games in all competitions after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Catania in an uninspiring clash.

The home side, whose last Serie A victory was back in November, fell behind to a superb Cristian Llama free-kick but star striker Giampaolo Pazzini won and then converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time to give the hosts a share of the spoils.

It was a well-earned point for Catania but not enough to take them out of the relegation zone.

Neither Parma nor Udinese were able to put an end to their dismal runs of form as they recorded the only goalless draw in Serie A on Sunday.

Parma played for an hour with only 10 men after Daniele Galloppa was sent off while Nicola Amoruso had a penalty saved midway through the first half, but neither side managed to find the back of the net in front of just 15,000 fans at the Stadio Tardini.

The result leaves Udinese hovering above the bottom three and sees Parma lose further ground on the clubs challenging for a place in Europe next season.

On Saturday, table-toppers Inter battled back from two goals down to secure a point at Bari.

Two penalties in three minutes just after the hour looked to have set Bari on their way to a famous victory over Jose Mourinho's champions.

But Goran Pandev halved the deficit after 69 minutes and then another spot-kick, this time converted by Diego Milito, clinched a 2-2 draw for the Nerazzurri.

In Saturday's other game, Cagliari climbed to sixth with a 3-0 triumph over Livorno.

Goals from Joaquin Larrivey early in each half and a 64th-minute strike from substitute Jeda gave the Sardinians their fifth home win of the season.