Serie A wrap: Juve edge Inter as Roma recover

Juventus took revenge on Inter Milan for ending their unbeaten streak earlier this season with a 2-1 win at San Siro on Saturday.

In a spiteful Derby d’Italia, Juventus earned a narrow victory thanks to Alessandro Matri’s somewhat controversial winning goal, although the Serie A-leaders should consider themselves lucky after Inter missed out on a second-half penalty.

Juventus forward Fabio Quagliarella stunned the home crowd in the third minute on Saturday when he picked up the ball just outside the penalty area and thumped it into the top corner.

Inter had to wait until nine minutes after half-time to equalise when Antonio Cassano released Rodrigo Palacio in behind Juventus’ defence and the Argentine midfielder beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon one-on-one.

But Inter’s joy was short lived, with Quagliarella setting up Matri for the winner on the hour mark.

The home side were fervent in their protests as the ball appeared to go out of play before the goal.

But replays showed Quagliarella was fast enough to get to the ball before it rolled over the byline, cutting it back to Matri, who finished from close range.

Inter were complaining again later in the second half when the referee denied Cassano a penalty after he appeared to be brought down by Giorgio Chiellini, while in the final minute, the hosts lost Esteban Cambiasso to a red card for a studs up challenge on Sebastian Giovinco.

The result allowed Lazio to move into fifth place above Inter after the capital city club defeated Catania 2-1.

Catania opened the scoring in the 50th minute at the Stadio Olimpico but Lazio picked up the three points after two goals in three minutes.

An own goal from Catania’s Nicola Legrottaglie tied the match in the 79th minute and two minutes later Antonio Candreva put Lazio in front from the spot.

The victory has taken Lazio to 50 points and into fifth position – a Europa League qualification berth – in Serie A, although Inter (47 points) have a game in hand.

Parma handed Pescara their ninth defeat in 10 Serie A matches when they thumped the bottom club 3-0, while Palermo beat Roma 2-0 and Genoa drew 2-2 with Siena.

In other Serie A results, Cagliari overcame Fiorentina 2-1 and Atalanta played out a goalless draw with Sampdoria.