Napoli put pressure on top four with away win

Goals by Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi gave Napoli a potentially crucial 2-1 success at Parma on Sunday to take the southern outfit to within two points of the top four as they target a Champions League qualifying slot.

Cavani struck five minutes before the interval and Lavezzi bagged the winner with four minutes renaining after Cristian Zaccardo had threatened to rescue a point for a Parma side only five points clear of the drop zone.

Napoli moved onto 43 points from 26 matches - two adrift of both Udinese and Lazio with their fifth straight win - which have seen Cavani and Lavezzi plunder 10 goals between them.

But there was a touch of good fortune about their opener as Cavani bundled home having seen his initial penalty saved.

There was then an element of controversy as Argentinian Lavezzi appeared to be offside when he netted the clincher.

It was the Cavani-Lavezzi tandem which proved too hot for Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 encounter, the pair sharing the goals in a 3-1 win - and again they showed their poaching power.

AC Milan still lead the way after they thrashed Palermo - usually hard to beat in their Sicilian home - 4-0 on Saturday courtesy of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic treble on his return from suspension to move three points clear of Juventus, albeit having played a game more than the zebras.

Ibrahimovic revealed to the British press on Sunday that he turned down a move to Arsenal 12 years ago as coach Arsene Wenger wanted first to see how he fared in a trial.

Juve maintained the only unbeaten record in Serie A but had to be satisfied with a 1-1 draw at home to Chievo.

Having drawn a bad-tempered clash with Milan last weekend, the Turin side went ahead against mid-table Chievo after 18 minutes thanks to Paolo De Ceglie, but their rivals rallied and Boukary Drame netted an equaliser on 76 minutes.

Sunday evening sees the Rome derby between Roma and Lazio.

Lazio, who won the season's first derby right at the death, will expect to bag full points as they chase down the top two -- they are currently level on 45 points with third-placed Udinese, who take on Atalanta.

With Napoli's win both Udinese and Lazio have every reason to go for the jugular.

The same is true of Inter Milan, who take on midtable Catania with coach Claudio Ranieri denying the axe is hovering after a dreadful run of seven defeats and a draw which dropped them to seventh, nine points off a Champions League qualifying berth.

Ranieri said he would likely leave out Dutch star Wesley Sneijder, struggling to find his form, against Catania.

"It's not accurate to say Sneijder is a problem - but he is not having his best year and you have to deal with that in a certain way," Ranieri explained.

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