Juventus warmed up for their mid-week Coppa Italia derby tie against Torino by maintaining their four point lead at the top of the Group A standings thanks to a 2-1 win over Spezia.
A double from Eric Lanini saw off the threat of a dangerous Spezia side who were perhaps unlucky not to leave Turin with more from the game.
The Bianconeri’s opponents on Wednesday night prepared for the game with a win too, beating Livorno 1-0 away from home to stay in touch with second-placed Fiorentina.
The Viola themselves bounced back from their recent slip-ups with a win at home over Genoa, Federico Bernardeschi and Michele Fossati supplying the goals.
Grosetto continue to look out of sorts but did manage to secure a vital point with a draw at home against Cagliari thanks to Juri Marinelli’s last gasp strike although they are still rooted to the foot of the table.
Pro Vercelli claimed their biggest win of the season with a 3-0 defeat away from home of Novara with the help of a Fabio Coviello brace.
The final game in group A pitted Sampdoria against the always-entertaining Empoli but the sides could only manage a 0-0 draw in a disappointing encounter.
On to Group B, where leaders Atalanta failed to capitalise on second placed Chievo’s draw to put real daylight between the sides.
La Dea still hold a six point gap over the Flying Donkeys but it could have been more had they managed more than a 1-1 draw away to Cesena thanks to Roberto Gagliardini’s goal deep into injury time.
Chievo though failed to close the gap as they could only manage a 2-2 draw with third placed Inter away from home. Caleb Ekuban and Federico Franchini had twice put the visitors ahead but the Nerazzurri battled back and secured the draw through Ibrahima Mbaye’s 89th minute equaliser.
AC Milan did close the gap on both though with an easy 3-0 victory away against bottom side Hellas Verona, Alberto Spagnoli scoring twice for the Rossoneri.
Despite taking the lead through Riccardo Benatti’s first-minute opener, Bologna failed to hold on for the win and fell to a surprising 2-1 home reverse against Varese while Brescia drew 1-1 away to Modena after equalising just three minutes after falling behind.
Elsewhere, Udinese thrashed Cittadella 3-0 on the road with Miguel Medina scoring a double and Piotr Zielinski put the seal on the victory in the closing stages.
The final game in the group saw Padova take on Sassuolo and two goals in the opening 25 minutes were enough for the home side to take all three points.
The ever-exciting Group C maintained its high standards as league leaders Napoli began the weekend with a sensational 7-2 defeat of Crotone in Naples with two players sharing the goals.
Soma Novontny hit a hat-trick for the Partenopei while Pasquale Scielzo smashed four past the visiting defence who had no answer for the attacking flair of the hosts and were blown away after the break, at which they were only trailing 2-1.
Catania remain within a point of the Vesuviani though with their victory at home against Bari and they too dealt out a hefty beating, Fabio Aveni as always among the scorers as the Elefantini won 3-0.
Lazio, Palermo and Roma’s title challenges all may have fallen by the wayside though over the weekend, the Blucerchiati drawing 1-1 with the Sicilian side in the capital which was a good result for neither side.
The Giallorossi could also only manage a 1-1 draw away to 7th placed Reggina who had to play almost an hour of the game with 10 men after Marco Condemi’s dismissal.
Ascoli won well on the road as they beat Vicenza 3-1 to move themselves into 6th, in-form striker Gianluca Giovannini bagging a brace.
Ternana’s torrid run continued though as they were beaten at home 2-1 by Juve Stabia thanks to Ambrogio Sorisso’s double, with the second arriving after 87 minutes.
Due to adverse weather conditions, Virtus Lanciano’s tie with Pescara was postponed.
