Inter had seen their lead at the summit cut to a single point before their late kick-off on Sunday after the capital club posted a 3-1 win at Udinese.

Roma's win put the pressure on Inter to claim maximum points against a Fiorentina side riding high after booking their place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in midweek.

And despite goalkeeper Sebastien Frey producing a string of fine first-half saves, Inter finally broke through when Esteban Cambiasso was on target in the 55th minute.

Mario Balotelli then capped his second successive start with his second goal in as many games to seal the win seven minutes later.

In Rome the Giallorossi welcomed back inspirational captain Francesco Totti but were trailing to Antonio Di Natale's strike five minutes into what was to prove a very entertaining second half.

The Giallorrosi looked to be in disarray as goalkeeper Alexander Doni and defender Christian Panucci then clashed in the aftermath of the goal.

However they recovered their composure thanks to goals from Mirko Vucinic and Rodrigo Taddei before Ludovic Giuly's last-gasp strike sealed the victory.

At the other end of the table Livorno's poor home form continued as they slumped into last place after losing to fellow strugglers Cagliari 2-1 at the Stadio Armando Picchi.

The home side took just two minutes to break the deadlock through Fabio Galante, but Robert Acquafresca struck twice either side of the break to seal three priceless points for the visitors.

Livorno, who were not even in the relegation places at the start of play, sank to the bottom by a clear point, and are now two points from safety.

Reggina climbed off the bottom of the table with a narrow 1-0 win over in-form Sampdoria.

Franco Brienza scored the only goal of the game after 34 minutes to seal a win which takes them to within a point of safety.

Empoli and Parma remain within reach of the bottom three after they shared the points in a 1-1 draw at the Castellani Stadium.

Cristiano Lucarelli put the visitors ahead in the eighth minute, before hitting the woodwork shortly after, with Empoli youngster Sebastian Giovinco rescuing the hosts with an excellent solo effort.

Napoli's faint European hopes were kept alive with two goals in three second-half minutes to defeat Atalanta 2-0 and move nine points behind sixth-placed Samp, who occupy the final UEFA Cup place.

A string of fine saves from Ferdinando Coppola frustrated Napoli until Marek Hamsik struck in the 62nd minute before Ezequiel Lavezzi made the points safe three minutes later.

Defender Simone Loria scored late to handed Siena a valuable point at Lazio after Massimo Mutarelli opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time.

On Saturday, Juventus moved a step closer to sealing their return to European competition after a 3-2 win over AC Milan moved them nine points clear of Samp.

Milan by contrast are nine points behind the European places, meaning Claudio Ranieri's side can start preparing for their return to Europe after two years in exile.

Alessandro Del Piero put Juve ahead in the 12th minute but two goals from Filippo Inzaghi turned the game in Milan's favour before Hasan Salihamidzic grabbed an equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

The Bosnian provided the winner 10 minutes from time after Milan were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute when Daniele Bonera was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Mohamed Sissoko.

In Saturday's only other game Palermo striker Fabrizio Miccoli came off the bench to grab the only goal of the game as he powered his side to victory against Catania in the Sicilian derby.