The contest was over by the midway point with the Rossoneri scoring four times in the opening period, Zlatan Ibrahimovic grabbing two of them with the second a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Thiago Silva had opened Milan's account after eight minutes with Alexandre Pato also getting in on the act.

Palermo claimed their sixth home victory in a row to move up to fifth after beating Fiorentina 2-0.

It was a return to the Stadio Renzo Barbera to forget for former Palermo coach Delio Rossi as he lost for the first time since taking charge of the Viola.

Fabrizio Miccoli and Josip Ilicic were on target for the home side while Fiorentina ended the game with 10 men after Cesare Natali was given his marching orders with a minute left.

A late Luc Castaignos goal earned Inter Milan a vital 1-0 win at Siena.

Claudio Ranieri's men confirmed their place in the Champions League last 16 in midweek as winners of their group but their domestic form has been woeful by contrast, and they started the match in Tuscany three points behind their opponents and just one point above the bottom three.

However, they managed to claim three points from another unconvincing performance as Siena finished with 10 men following the dismissal of Franco Brienza.

Cagliari's run without a Serie A win continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by fellow strugglers Bologna at the Sant' Elia stadium.

The Sardinian outfit, without a league victory since October 2, dominated the encounter but went behind in the 75th minute when Marco Di Vaio put the visitors in front.

Cagliari captain Daniele Conti equalised from the penalty spot six minutes later after he was held by Nicolo Cherubin in the area.

Adrian Mutu struck twice in the second half as Cesena beat Genoa 2-0 for their first home triumph of the season.

The Romanian forward put the hosts ahead in the 70th minute from the penalty spot before adding his second 10 minutes from time.

The result was Cesena's second victory of the campaign and lifted them into 19th place, two points from safety.