Lazio extended their advantage at the top as Udinese, Napoli, Cagliari and Sampdoria all celebrated wins.
Lazio extend their lead at the top of Serie A ahead of Rome derby
Surprise Serie A leaders Lazio extended their advantage at the top as Udinese, Napoli, Cagliari and Sampdoria also recorded victories.
Edy Reja's team now have a four-point cushion over second-placed Inter Milan after Andre Dias scored the only goal of the game after 27 minutes to seal a crucial away win.
The Brazilian defender's volley was somewhat fortuitous but effective nonetheless as it allowed the 10-man leaders to prevail following Giuseppe Biava's dismissal.
They will be happy to have claimed a victory ahead of the Rome derby with Roma next week.
Udinese heaped more misery on
Bari, who are now bottom of the table, by beating them 2-0 at home.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour and Mauricio Isla added the second on the hour mark.
Solitary
Ezequiel Lavezzi was the solitary name on the score sheet for
Napoli as they managed to edge past
Brescia 1-0.
The team from Naples are now fifth in Serie A and level on points with Juventus, who presently occupy fourth.
Two second-half goals from
Cagliari were enough to ease them into mid-table safety as
Bologna continue to struggle to get to grips with this division.
Bologna remain second bottom but only by virtue of a better goal difference over Bari to avoid the ignominy of being bottom.
Nene scored the first after 51 minutes before Radja Nainggolan wrapped up the points for the home side.
Elsewhere, Giampaolo Pazzini continued his and
Sampdoria's impressive form this season as his winning goal against
Cesena moved them up to sixth, two points behind fourth spot.
Palermo and
Chievo, meanwhile, played out a goalless draw as defences came out on top in this encounter.
It was a similar tale in Sunday's late game as
Catania and
Fiorentina could not muster a goal between them.
