ROME -- AC Milan regained top stop in Serie A after a 3-1 win away over relegation-threatened Cesena on Sunday. Riding high on the back of their impressive 4-0 Champions League win against Arsenal in mid-week, but still without suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Rossoneri dominated much of the opening play and stunned Cesena with two goals in two minutes after nearly half-an-hour played.

 The opener came when a Thiago Silva free-kick was spilled by Cesena keeper Francesco Antonioli allowing Ghanaian Sulley Muntari to tap in his first goal for the club on twenty-nine minutes. Two minutes later Dutchman Urby Emanuelson doubled the away team's lead when he was put through by Brazilian Robinho to fire under the Cesena keeper, who probably should have done better with both the goals as the home team went in 0-2 down at half-time.

 Milan's dominance continued into the second half. Man of the Match Robinho remained instrumental as he got himself on the scoresheet with their third after nine minutes of the restart when he was played through by Ignazio Abate. The Brazilian strolled past the Cesena defence before slotting the ball low past the goalkeeper with great composure.

 Cesena managed to pull a goal back against the run of play ten minutes later when Daniel Pudil hit a sweet volley from the edge of the area that bobbled past Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal, but it was inevitably a mere consolation as Milan regained their one point advantage at the top of the league. Cesena dropped to the foot of the table after Novara secured a point in their 0-0 draw at home to Atalanta.

 Juventus had briefly regained top spot in the league when they came from a goal down to win 3-1 at home to Catania on Saturday to continue their season-long unbeaten run.

 Catania took the lead with only four minutes on the clock with a goal from Argentine Pablo Barrientos, who curled a low shot past the outstretched Gianluigi Buffon in the Juve goal.

 Juventus pulled level after 22 minutes when dead-ball specialist Andrea Pirlo hit a low free-kick that curled in past Catania goalkeeper Tomas Kosicky. The home team were given a helping hand in the 65^thminute by the sending off of Marco Motta, a Juventus player who is currently on loan at Catania, for a second yellow card.

 It appeared to be the turning point in the match as Juventus were practically unplayable with a one man advantage and went ahead with 16 minutes remaining. Pirlo once again demonstrated his dead-ball ability when he swung in a free-kick that was met by the head of defender Giorgio Chiellini to make it 2-1.

 Less than 10 minutes later Pirlo was in action yet again as he sent through Fabio Quagliarella, whose shot trickled in off Kosicky to round off an assured performance for the Bianconeri and get them back to winning ways following two consecutive 0-0 draws while Catania drop to fifteenth. Juventus manager Antonio Conte praised his team in his post-match interview. "We were good tonight, we were concentrated and mature and gave an excellent response to the fans, as we showed that we are a great team,"

 Lazio failed to close the gap on leaders AC Milan and slipped to fourth place as they were hammered 5-1 by Palermo in Sicily. Palermo took the lead in the 10^thminute as Paraguayan Edgar Osvaldo Barreto latched onto a Fabrizio Miccoli pass and slammed his shot past Federico Marchetti in the Lazio goal.

 Less than ten minutes later they made it 2-0 when Massimo Donati produced a spectacular strike from the edge of the area, which gave Marchetti no chance as it flew past him high into the far corner. The home side went 3-0 ahead thanks to a header from Matias Silvestre from six yards in the closing minutes of the first half as the Lazio defence began to capitulate.

 Lazio seemed to have lost all defensive discipline with Palermo scoring twice inside five minutes of the restart with goals from Igor Budan, as he broke the offside trap to beat Marchetti for 4-0, and Fabrizio Miccoli, who slotted home to make it 5-0.

 Lazio were reduced to ten men 15 minutes from time when Brazilian defender Andre Dias was given his marching orders for a second booking before a consolation goal from Czech forward Libor Kozák five minutes from time. Udinese moved back up to third in the table on goal difference thanks to Lazio’s heavy defeat despite only managing a 0-0 draw at home against Cagliari in a largely uneventful game.

 They are now eight points behind AC Milan at the top of the table and seven behind Juventus who have played a game less. The point keeps Cagliari in ninth and they trail eighth placed Palermo only on goal difference.

 Meanwhile, Inter Milan's miserable form continued on Friday when they lost 0-3 against Bologna at the San Siro stadium, leaving them in seventh place and piling yet more pressure on embattled manager Claudio Ranieri.

 Bologna's Marco Di Vaio struck two first-half goals in as many minutes and a Robert Aquafresca strike five minutes from time sealed an important win for the Rossoblu that takes them four points clear of the relegation zone in sixteenth place having played two games less than Lecce in eighteenth.

 Inter have taken just a single point from their last five league games while Bologna are now unbeaten in their last six and are showing the kind of form needed to escape the drop.

 Inter President Massimo Moratti reportedly left the stadium in disgust at half-time and surely it is only a matter of time before his patience with Ranieri runs out.

 Roma jumped up to fifth place in the table after a 1-0 home win against Parma on Sunday.

 The only goal of the game came from Fabio Borini after twenty-six minutes following a fine assist from Argentine Fernando Gago.

 The only sore point for Roma was that captain Francesco Totti will miss the Giallorossi's next league match against Atalanta through suspension after he picked up a booking a minute before Borini's goal.

 Parma dropped to fourteenth after the defeat while Roma now sit a point above Napoli who dropped to sixth despite an assured 0-3 away win against Fiorentina on Friday night.

 A goal in each half from top scorer Edinson Cavani and a last minute strike from fellow Argentine Ezequiel Lavezzi secured the Azzuri victory, while Fiorentina are down to twelfth after Chievo's 0-1 away win at Genoa moved them up to tenth place.

 Lecce improved their chances of survival with a 4-1 home win against fellow strugglers Siena in Sunday's early kick-off.

 Siena took the lead with a first-half strike from Cristiano Del Grosso before goals from Lecce's Luis Muriel, David Di Michele, Colombian Juan Cuadrado and  Davide Brivio wrapped up an impressive win for the Giallorossi to take them to within two points of Siena in seventeenth place having played an extra game.

 Full Serie A Results:

 Friday

 Inter 0-3 Bologna

 Fiorentina 0-3 Napoli

 Saturday

 Juventus 3-1 Catania

 Sunday

 Lecce 4-1 Siena

 Roma 1-0 Parma

 Genoa 0-1 Chievo

 Cesena 1-3 AC Milan

 Novara 0-0 Atalanta

 Udinese 0-0 Cagliari

 Palermo 5-1 Lazio