Having lost out to Sampdoria last weekend, Carlo Ancelotti's men were keen to bounce back immediately so as not to lose further ground on the top two.

And Inzaghi's goals after seven, 71 and 74 minutes ensured they did just that with Milan returning the gap to five points on second-placed Juventus, who beat Torino last night.

Leaders Inter Milan sit 12 points clear of their city rivals following their victory over Genoa yesterday.

Fiorentina were not so fortunate today as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at home to Palermo.

Fabio Simplicio opened the scoring after 48 minutes for the visitors before Fabrizio Miccoli added a second eight minutes later as the Viola dropped five points behind Milan in the standings.

Lazio closed the gap on the top six to four points with a 2-0 victory at Napoli thanks to two goals from substitute Tommaso Rocchi, who scored the opener less than a minute after coming off the bench.

Cagliari slipped below Lazio in the standings as they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Chievo.

Jeda had fired Cagliari in front after 28 minutes but Stephen Makinwa levelled for Chievo, although the point was not enough to move them out of the drop zone.

Reggina remain at the foot of the standings following a goalless draw at fellow strugglers Lecce.

Sampdoria failed to build on their win over Milan as they were trounced 3-0 by Bologna.

Marco Di Vaio (45, 87, 90) notched a hat-trick for the hosts, who move two points clear of the bottom three.

Siena also eased their relegation worries with a 3-0 success at Catania thanks to goals from Massimo Maccarone, Abdelkader Ghezzal and Lukas Jarolim.