Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira scored a goal each Sunday to help Inter Milan beat Palermo 2-1 and take a four-point lead in the Serie A.
Ibrahimovic put Inter ahead in the sixth minute with a powerful strike from 30 metres (yards), which Palermo goalkeeper Alberto Fontana should have saved. Vieira scored the second in the 61st from just inside the area.
Inter improved to 33 points, four ahead of AS Roma, which moved past Palermo and into second place following its 4-2 win over Sampdoria. Palermo is third with 27 points.
Inter dominated the match with its most controlled performance of the season.
Italy defender Marco Materazzi had an impressive game at the back for the visitors, cutting out a series of Palermo attacks.
Palermo's goal, scored by Brazilian striker Amauri in the 45th, was the host team's only goal attempt in the first half.
``The team played very well this evening, in what we knew would be a difficult game,'' Inter coach Roberto Mancini said. ``In the first half we were extraordinary ... the defence conceded practically nothing.''
Mancini left in-form striker Hernan Crespo on the bench, instead handing Adriano his first start in more than a month. He recently took a week off in Brazil to regain his focus.
The forward, who has not scored since March, did not break his goal-drought but showed glimpses of the form that saw him net a total of 40 goals in the 2004-05 season, for club and country.
The burly striker provided assists for both goals, troubled Fontana with a free kick in the 27th minute, and hit the side-netting three minutes later.
``I knew that Adriano would have a lot of motivation in a game like this,'' Mancini said. ``I also handed him a start in order to give Hernan a bit of a break, and he gave a very good account of himself ... working hard until the very end.''
Ibrahimovic was forced off in the 48th with what appeared to be a groin injury and was replaced by Crespo.
Inter's ninth straight victory in all competitions set a club record. It was Palermo's second straight loss in the league, after going down 1-0 to Cagliari last week.
Francesco Totti scored two goals to keep Roma in the title chase.
The Roma captain beat Sampdoria's offside trap in the 13th minute to give his team the lead, then added another with a spectacular 74th-minute volley from the left.
Simone Perrotta and Christian Panucci scored Roma's other goals in the first half, after Sampdoria midfielder Sergio Volpi had equalized for the hosts in the 14th minute.
Sampdoria forward Francesco Flachi also converted a 90th-minute penalty on his return from a two month suspension for betting.
``Beyond putting on a good show, we deserved the victory in my opinion,'' Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. ``The team played an excellent first half and was able to dictate the game on its own terms.''
Roma, which won its fifth straight, has now scored 11 goals in its last two league matches. The Roman team beat Catania 7-0 last week.
Also Sunday, Reggina rallied from two goals down to draw 2-2 with fourth-place Livorno and move into positive points for the first time after starting the season with a 15-point penalty from the Italian match-fixing scandal.
Lazio beat winless Ascoli 3-1 off goals from Manuel Belleri, Goran Pandev and Pasquale Foggia to climb three places to seventh in the standings with 18 points.
Empoli beat visiting Cagliari 1-0 off Ighli Vannucchi's ninth-minute free kick; Catania downed 10-man Parma 2-0; Torino won 2-1 at Atalanta for its first away win of the season; and Fiorentina was held 1-1 at Siena in a Tuscan derby.
On Saturday, AC Milan beat Messina 1-0 for its first win in five league games and Chievo Verona downed visiting Udinese 2-0 for its first win of the season.
In the Serie B, an understrength Juventus beat Lecce 4-1 to maintain its unbeaten record.
© The Canadian Press, 2007
