Julio Cruz scored the only goal of the game in the 30th minute, heading Mario Balotelli's corner past Alberto Fontana from point-blank range.

The win moved Roberto Mancini's men six points clear of second-placed Roma - who drew yesterday - with four games of the season remaining.

AC Milan are still in the hunt for fourth spot after a resounding 5-1 victory over relegation-threatened Reggina.

A Kaka hat-trick, which included two first-half penalties, and late strikes from Filippo Inzaghi and Alexandre Pato gave Milan the points.

Alessandro Del Piero also helped himself to a treble and set up the opener for Nicola Legrottaglie as Juventus romped to a 4-0 away win at Atalanta, which moves them to within five points of Roma.

Ten-man Genoa kept alive their hopes of claiming a place in Europe next season with a 1-0 win at Siena. Former Siena player Abdoulay Konko netted the only goal of the game in the 24th minute.

Sampdoria enjoyed a resounding 3-0 triumph over Udinese to tighten their grip on a European place with Antonio Cassano netting twice.

Napoli came from behind to win 2-1 away at Parma in a bad-tempered match that saw the hosts end the game with only eight men.

Catania's hopes of avoiding relegation received a boost as they claimed a 1-0 victory over nine-man Lazio.

Catania were joined five points clear of the drop zone by Cagliari, who claimed a 2-0 win at lowly Empoli despite finishing the game with nine men.