Udinese and Napoli won to extend their surprising runs atop the Serie A yesterday, while Inter Milan dropped behind following a 0-0 draw at Fiorentina.
Udinese beat Catania 2-0 with goals from Chile forward Alexis Sanchez and Italy forward Fabio Quagliarella. Argentine striker German Denis racked a hat trick as Napoli defeated last-place Reggina 3-0 to celebrate the reopening of the curves at San Paolo Stadium.
"Everyone should fear Napoli for the way we're playing right now," Napoli coach Edy Reja said. "If we continue performing at this level anything is possible.
"I said at the start that (Denis) was going to be a key player for Napoli, considering the 37 goals he scored in Argentina. But today (Marek) Hamsik was really extraordinary, providing two assists like only he knows how."
Napoli next visits AC Milan, which beat Siena 2-1 with Filippo Inzaghi scoring once and earning a penalty that Kaka converted. After dropping its opening two games, Milan has gone unbeaten in its last seven, winning six.
The closest Inter came to scoring was when Amantino Mancini hit the crossbar five minutes in. Inter also drew 0-0 against Genoa at the weekend.
"I'm going home content tonight," Inter coach Jose Mourinho said. "I can't be satisfied with the result, but my squad played tough, and that's what counts. We haven't won the last two games, but we haven't lost either. I think it's only fair to give some merit to Genoa, to Fiorentina for how they played us."
Udinese and Napoli lead with 20 points each, 1 more than Milan, followed by Inter with 18 and Fiorentina with 17.
Juventus has 15 points after Pavel Nedved scored twice in a 2-1 win over Bologna. It was Juve's second straight win after going a month without a victory.
Also, it was: Chievo Verona 1, Lazio 2 Genoa 2, Cagliari 1 Lecce 1, Palermo 1 and Torino 2, Atalanta 1.
The AS Roma-Sampdoria game was stopped after six minutes with the score 0-0 due to heavy rain. It will be replayed later.
Mourinho dropped forwards Adriano and Julio Ricardo Cruz for punishment after the Genoa game, and surrounded Zlatan Ibrahimovic with Victor Obinna and Amantino Mancini in attack instead.
Ibrahimovic provided the pass when Mancini hit the crossbar and the Sweden center forward missed wide in the 27th.
Manuel Pasqual curved a free kick around Inter's wall in the 43rd and Fiorentina argued for a penalty after defender Nicolas Burdisso appeared to tug down Giampaolo Pazzini as he was going for the rebound.
Mancini missed a wide open look in the 58th and was replaced by Patrick Vieira five minutes later. Hernan Crespo also came on for Obinna and the rarely used Argentina forward had a shot from a sharp angle blocked by Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey two minutes later.
Mourinho sent on another attacking player, Ricardo Quaresma, for Dejan Stankovic with his final substitution, but it was Fiorentina that threatened in the final minutes, with Pazzini and Stevan Jovetic both missing high in the 86th and 88th, respectively.
Fiorentina was without its top forwards Alberto Gilardino and Adrian Mutu. Gilardino, the league's scoring leader with seven goals, was suspended for two games for scoring with his hand against Palermo at the weekend, and Mutu was a late scratch due to a bad knee.
At the San Siro, Inzaghi took a pass from Gennaro Gattuso to put Milan ahead in the 31st, then earned a penalty that Kaka converted in the 65th after Siena captain Simone Vergassola had equalized in the 54th.
Nedved scored in the 12th and 56th, and provided the pass when Amauri hit the post in the 51st.
Former Juventus player Marco Di Vaio pulled one back for Bologna in the 75th.
Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero sat out to nurse a bruise.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 30, 2008)