Title in sight for Juve, Viola beat Napoli









Juventus ground out a bad-tempered 1-0 victory over 10-man Catania to pull 14 points clear at the top of the Serie A table on Sunday night.



• Chievo 0-2 Roma



• Torino 3-1 Livorno



The reigning champions and likely winners of a third-straight scudetto have struggled to put lesser opposition to bed in recent weeks and were uninspired when beating the league's bottom side.



Carlos Tevez did send three more points back to Turin with a typically fierce effort in the 59th minute and the chase was beyond Catania once striker Gonzalo Bergessio picked up a second yellow card.



Atalanta claimed a surprise 2-1 victory over Inter Milan as Giacomo Bonaventura made Mauro Icardi pay for missing a golden chance.



Icardi had equalised almost immediately after Bonaventura opened the scoring shortly before half-time, but the Argentine shot wide of an open goal with two minutes remaining.



Bonaventura duly headed home the winner and as the visitors registered a fourth straight victory.



Joaquin's late goal finally broke 10-man Napoli's resolve and saw Fiorentina win 1-0 to close to within seven points of third place in Serie A. The two clubs were keen to react to Europa League exits in midweek and the match at Stadio San Paolo offered a shot at redemption and rich rewards to both parties.



Rafael Benitez's men were itching to pull 13 points clear in the pursuit of the final Champions League place, which Fiorentina are chasing hard and could now reach over the season run-in.



Any number of players could have unlocked the frantic encounter after Faouzi Ghoulam was sent off but it fell to Spanish winger Joaquin to force the 1-0 win with a header at the death.



AC Milan managed to take an elusive point from their 1-1 draw at Lazio but the immediate future still looks bleak for Clarence Seedorf's ailing side.



The Dutchman can expect to keep his job for the time being after Abdoulay Konko's own-goal ensured Alvaro Dominguez's second-half strike was not enough to condemn Milan to a fourth straight defeat.



Other results on Sunday meant the 18-time champions slumped to 12th in the table, where they lie 42 points behind leaders Juventus and 11 off the nearest Europa League place with nine games to play. Lazio, meanwhile, remain in seventh place and five points off the European pace.



Parma missed the chance to move up to fourth after being held at home to a 1-1 draw by Genoa.



Isaac Cofie gave the visitors a lead which lasted just 10 minutes before Ezequiel Schelotto levelled. Parma searched more insistently for a winner while Genoa also had chances to take all three points, but there were no further goals as the two sides took a point apiece.



Antonio Di Natale was the only man to get onto the scoresheet as Udinese claimed a 1-0 win over strugglers Sassuolo on Sunday.



Di Natale gave his side the lead in the 27th minute and they held on to the end, although both sides missed a chance from the penalty spot.



Sampdoria put Hellas Verona to the sword and climbed towards the top half of the table with a resounding 5-0 victory at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.



The Genoese club took full advantage of a limp Verona side who appear to have given up somewhat after reaching 40 points and effectively securing a second season in the top flight.



Two goals from Roberto Soriano plus efforts from Gianluca Sansone, Renan and Angelo Palombo steered Samp to their best victory of the 2013-14 campaign so far and they are now within two points of catching 10th-placed Torino.



Bologna recorded a 1-0 victory over Cagliari to give their survival hopes a significant boost.



Lazaros Christodoulopoulos won and converted a penalty to secure a victory that leaves the visitors with real concerns over their safety.