Inter matched Roma's win and restored their six point advantage. Totti and co's victory over Milan meant the Nerrazzurri could not afford to slip up: a convincing 2-1 win over Palermo was the ideal antidote to a week of turbulence. Goals from Vieri and Jimenez either side of Materazzi's unfortunate own goal allowed Inter to put the Champions League disaster against Liverpool behind them and restored their six-point advantage over the Giallorossi at the top of Serie A. Genoa await them at the Marassi stadium in midweek, while Roma face Lazio in the Rome Derby. Fiorentina also secured an important win, seeing off a game Genoa side 3-1. The visitors, who had five good chances, were well in contention until Pazzini scored his side's third goal, but came up against a Frey in towering form. Mutu looked dangerous on his return and put the Ligurians to the sword, dominating the game and his opponents and scoring Fiorentina's second after Santana's opener. Genoa's consolation came from Di Masiero. It was a victory born of experience and gave the Viola a four point advantage over Milan in the race for fourth place.

The battle at the bottom of the table gets more exciting by the week. Cagliari disposed of Torino 3-0 with two goals from Acquafresca and one from Jeda: the Sardinians (carrying a three-point penalty) stay bottom on 21 points. Empoli remain stuck on 25 (following a 4-1 home defeat by Atalanta, goals from Padoin (2), Langella and Doni, with Vannucchi the scorer for the hosts), and are joined by Reggina who put four past Siena (a double from Super Brienza and one apiece from midfielders Cozza and Missiroli). The much-awaited Livorno-Parma fixture ended in a draw (1-1) following strikes by Vidigal and Reginaldo. Hector Cuper had to settle for a point from his first match in charge of the Gialloblu and there were whistles and insults for former home favourite Cristiano Lucarelli. Finally, Sampdoria found the going tough before running out 3-1 winners against Catania. The star of the show was Claudio Bellucci who, just 13 days after a knee cartilage operation, came on with twenty minutes to go and changed the course of the game, creating and scoring the goal that sealed the home side's win. He joined Palombo, Stovini and Accardi.

 Milan put in their best performance of the season, but went down in Rome after a spectacular second half. The Rossoneri made a dream start after the break, scoring through Kaka and having several chances to extend their lead. Spalletti's substitutions were spot on and Roma took just three minutes to turn it around with strikes from Giuly and Vucinic. The comeback was a testament to the strength of Totti and co, who are now just three points behind Inter, but was tough on Ancelotti's side, who can feel hard done by.

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