Adrian Mutu's 14th league goal of the season gave Fiorentina a 2-1 Serie-A victory over Catania on Sunday, sending them back into fourth place in the table and maintaining their hopes of a place in next season's Champions League.

Zradko Kuzmanovic headed Fiorentina into a 41st minute lead from Mario Alberto Santana's cross but Catania equalized after an hour when Juan Vargas beat substitute goalkeeper Vlada Avramov on his senior debut.

Avramov replaced Sebastian Frey, who suffered a thigh injury, in the first period.

The reliable Romanian striker Mutu fired in Fiorentina's winner from 20 meters after 71 minutes.

Fiorentina are three ahead of AC Milan, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Parma on Saturday.

Sampdoria won the derby game in Genoa 1-0, and kept their UEFA Cup qualification hopes alive. Christian Maggio was on target after 87 minutes, after the home side were reduced to 10 men following the sending off of Brazilian defender Danilo.

A cracking Alex Del Piero free kick allowed Juventus to defeat Roma in the battle for second place, although the Giallorossi hit the woodwork.

Francesco Totti admitted this fixture was to some even bigger than the derby and one cannot describe the rivalry between these clubs.

Juventus: Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi (Nocerino 46), Zanetti, Nedved (Palladino 81); Del Piero; Iaquinta, Trezeguet (Sissoko 67)

Roma: Doni; Cassetti, Ferrari, Mexes, Tonetto; Pizarro (Aquilani 73), De Rossi; Taddei (Giuly 60), Perrotta (Esposito 82), Mancini; Totti

AC Milan failed to score for the first time in 14 rounds, as a 0-0 at Parma slows their push for a Champions League spot.

The Rossoneri hoped to continue their comeback towards a top four finish, but were still in shock after Ronaldo snapped the tendon in his left knee during Wednesday's rescheduled Week 16 1-1 draw with Livorno. Clarence Seedorf and Alexandre Pato were also still injured, but Kaka returned to the fold.

Honduran striker David Suazo scored twice to give Inter Milan a 2-0 home win over Livorno and extend their Serie A lead to 11 points.

Suazo made the most of his chance with Inter coach Roberto Mancini resting top strike duo Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz ahead of the Champions League last-16 first leg at Liverpool.

He was virtually unmarked when he headed in Cristian Chivu's free kick on 14 minutes and soon netted his seventh of the campaign for the unbeaten champions after Livorno failed to clear Maxwell's cross.

"I'm worried. There were no doubts about our goals. What will they talk about tonight?" Mancini jokingly asked on Sky given recent controversies surrounding some of Inter's goals.

Napoli's mid-season woes continued after being reduced to nine men at home against a ten-man Empoli and eventually losing 3-1.

Empoli's Pozzi opened the scoring in the first half before recent Napoli midfield signing Mannini equalised in the 37th minute.

Pozzi doubled Empoli's tally midway through the second half and Budel sealed the victory with 7 minutes left. The win sees Empoli gain some momentum to edge out of the bottom three.

Palermo saw off bottom placed Cagliari after Uruguayan striker Cavani and Serb midfielder Jankovic put the Sicilian side two goals up at the break. Cavani managed to get on the score card again in the second half albeit on Cagliari's score-sheet after tucking away an own goal with the match ending 2-1.

Lazio was too good for Atalanta with Azzurri striker Tommaso Rocchi scoring two penalties and Goran Pandev netting, ending in a 3-0 win for the Roman side.

Udinese did Reggina no favours with a comprehensive 3-1 win in Calabria. Di Natale grabbed two goals after Pepe put the Friuli side one nil to the good.

Siena hosted Torino with the match ending in a nil-all draw.

Serie A table