Milanese rivals continue to set pace

AC Milan piled further pressure on Juventus with a comfortable 3-0 victory in Turin but were unable to reduce FC Internazionale Milano's eight-point lead at the top as the Serie A champions opened the weekend with a remarkable 4-3 home win against AC Siena.

Ronaldinho goals
Determined to build on their midweek success at Parma FC and leapfrog their visitors into second, the Bianconeri instead suffered their sixth reverse in eight games in all competitions, with Alessandro Nesta tapping in an Andrea Pirlo corner on 29 minutes. Juve struggled to deal with set-pieces and conceded from another Pirlo corner with 18 minutes remaining, Ronaldinho this time the beneficiary. The Brazilian forward struck again on 88 minutes following a David Beckham corner, wrapping up the Rossoneri's seventh league win in eight outings. "It was important to give a sense of consistency and to keep pace with Inter after they won yesterday," said Pirlo, whose side have a game in hand. "We have to continue like this and keep chasing the leaders."

Mourinho record
A day earlier, Inter maintained their victorious start to 2010 despite finding themselves trailing bottom side Siena 3-2 with just two minutes remaining, due in part to a Massimo Maccarone double. Wesley Sneijder's second goal of the match, a powerful free-kick, and a Walter Samuel effort deep into added time completed the turnaround. "We really suffered but the win is so important," said the Argentinian defender, whose effort helped extend coach José Mourinho's unbeaten home league record to 127 matches.

Napoli success
Level on points with Juventus in fourth, SSC Napoli made it 12 Serie A games without defeat by seeing off UC Sampdoria 1-0. Substitute Germán Denis headed in after 71 minutes to lift his side back above AS Roma, who had taken temporary hold of the last UEFA Champions League spot by overcoming AC Chievo Verona by the same scoreline. Daniele De Rossi struck in the first minute for the Giallorrossi, who then held on after losing goalkeeper Doni to an eleventh-minute red card. Elsewhere, José Ignacio Castillo hit the winner and was later sent off for sixth-placed ACF Fiorentina as they overcame AS Bari 2-1 at home.