ROME -- Juventus put space between themselves and the chasing pack as Roma stumbled in an upset-filled weekend of Italian football.

 Gonzalo Higuain continued his rich veign of form as he led Juventus to a 2-0 victory over Sassuolo on Sunday. The victory saw Juventus consolidate their lead at the top of Serie A. The €90 million man opened the scoring in the ninth minute followed by Sami Khedira making a rare contribution in front of goal in the 25^th minute. Juventus held on to claim all three points and go four points ahead in the league. This is a welcome cushion ahead of next week’s Derby d’Italia against an Inter Milan side with a fair amount of momentum behind them.

 Roma managed to lose 3-2 away at Sampdoria despite having led twice in the game. Luis Muriel managed to settle the tense encounter in the 73^’ minute. Bruno Peres opened the scoring for the away team in the fifth minute but had his opener cancelled out in the 21’ by Dennis Praet. Goals from Edin Džeko and Schick followed in the second half but ultimately Sampdoria ran out winner at home in Genoa.

 This was a weekend of missed opportunities at the top of the league table as Napoli missed the opportunity to go level on points with Roma but failed to beat second from bottom Palermo in a game in which the away team were perhaps unlucky to not come away with more. Ilja Nestorovski’s put this game on course for an upset when he opened the scoring in the fifth-minute. It took Napoli until the 66^th minute to come up with an equaliser through Dries Mertens. Despite a red-card for Edoardo Goldaniga in the 90^th minute the relegation candidates managed to hold on until the full-time whistle.

 The game of the week award should go to Fiorentina and Genoa who provided six goals and two red cards. Josip Ilicic (17^th minute) and Federico Chiesa (50^th minute) gave Fiorentina the upper hand with goals either side of the break but Genoa promptly hit back through GIovanni Simeone (57^th), son of Athletico Madrid manager, Diego, and Oscar Hiljemark(59^th).

 Nikola Kalinic thought he had done enough with his 62nd-minute strike for La Viola, but Simeone kept his cool from the spot. The penalty was conceded by substitute Federico Bernardeschi, who was sent off in the 86^th minute, despite assisting the equaliser.

 Sixth-placed Atalanta missed an opportunity to make strides towards the Champions League places when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Torino. Spanish winger Iago Falque put the Granata ahead after 16 minutes with visiting youngster Andrea Petagna rescuing a point in the 66th minute.

 AC Milan are one spot behind Atalanta in the table and suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat at Udinese. The Rossoneri let their advantage slip away after Giacomo Bonaventura notched in the eighth minute. Cyril Thereau equalised in the 31st minute and, with a quarter of the match remaining, Rodrigo de Paul clinched Udinese their valuable win. This result moves them into the top half of the table.

 Crotone may not be dead and buried after all. The promoted club have propped up the standings since making their top-flight bow in August but on Sunday they took out their frustration on Empoli, victims of a Diego Falcinelli-led 4-1 stuffing at the Stadio Ezio Scida. This result could have a huge baring on the future of Crotone’s season but the gap between relegation and safety is still 8 points. It remains to be seen if this is a turning point with 17 matches to go.

 Adrian Stoian got the ball rolling with an opener for the hosts in the 24th minute, only for Levan Mchedlidze to plunder an all-too-familiar leveller six minutes before half-time. After the break Falcinelli restored Crotone's advantage on 56 minutes before laying claim to the matchball with a converted penalty and a last-gasp strike in stoppage time.

 Elsewhere, mid-table residents Cagliari andBologna drew 1-1 in Sardinia thanks to goals from visiting striker Mattia Destro and Marco Borriello. Swedish full-back Emil Krafth and goalkeeper Federico Viviani were dismissed at the death for 12th-placed Bologna.

 On Saturday, in-form Inter Milan moved up to fourth with a 3-0 success at home to bottom-of-the-table Pescara - their seventh consecutive Serie A victory. Inter did not struggle to continue their fine vein of form against their bottom-of-the-table visitors. Danilo D'Ambrosio put them in front in the 23rd minute at the San Siro, then Joao Mario doubled the lead just before half-time. Substitute Eder completed the scoring in the 73rd minute.

 After Lazio missed their chance to keep the pressure on the top three when they lost 1-0 to Chievo at the Stadio Olimpico in Saturday's only other fixture. Lazio had earlier dominated the chances against Chievo but could not provide the killing blow. They were made to pay when Roberto Inglese scored the winner against the run of play in the 90th minute.