Chasing pack miss chance to overhaul Inter Milan

Inter Milan remained top of Serie A despite Saturday's defeat at AS Roma after most of the unlikely chasing pack lost on Sunday, leaving Lazio the main beneficiaries.     

Mauro Zarate's second-half goal gave Lazio a 1-0 win at Chievo to end the home side's hopes of top spot and lift the Romans level on points with champions Inter.

Argentine striker Zarate, a rare bright spot in Lazio's flirt with relegation last term, has endured a difficult start to the campaign but rewarded coach Edy Reja for restoring him to the starting lineup by finishing off Stefano Mauri's pass.

Brescia could have surged to the summit but lost 2-1 at Bari and fellow promoted club Cesena also slipped up.                        

The modest team from the town near Rimini, in the top flight for the first time since 1991, had the chance to join Inter on 10 points from five games but lost 4-1 at home to Napoli in the early match after taking the lead.  

Uruguay World Cup forward Edinson Cavani cleverly struck twice late on for the inconsistent Naples side to leap to the top of the scoring charts alongside Inter's Samuel Eto'o on five goals.

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri was sent to stands for arguing with officials over the validity of Cesena's opener just after the break when he felt a foul should have gone his side's way.  

"I was right. When it's dubious you give the foul to the defending team," Mazzarri told Sky. "The referee definitely got it wrong and I told him but without offending anyone."    

Fiorentina win                                    

Inter lost 1-0 at Roma in Saturday's juicy clash but stayed ahead of Lazio on goal difference with wayward Juventus unable to threaten the top positions even if they beat Cagliari in Sunday's late match (1845 GMT) in Turin.

Stop-start Sampdoria failed to keep pace with a 0-0 home draw against Udinese, who picked up their first point of the season but remained bottom.   

Fiorentina also secured their opening win of the campaign with a 2-0 victory over Parma in Florence to ease the pressure on new boss Sinisa Mihajlovic.     

The Serb's former side Catania drew 1-1 at home with Bologna to lie two adrift of the top alongside Napoli, Bari and AC Milan, who beat Genoa 1-0 on Saturday thanks to another Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike.

Palermo, 3-1 winners at Juve on Thursday, continued their rollercoaster start to the season by coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Lecce after substitute Massimo Maccarone netted on the rebound in stoppage time.