Juventus held by Udinese

Juve lost their grip on top spot on Tuesday night when AC Milan defeated Cagliari 2-0, and this stalemate means Antonio Conte's men are now level on 34 points with the Rossoneri but behind them on goal difference.

The draw keeps Udinese in third place, just two points behind the leading duo.

Lazio failed to make ground as they were held to a goalless draw by a brave Chievo at the Stadio Olimpico.

Inter Milan stormed back from a goal down to defeat bottom-of-the-table Lecce and end 2011 on a high with an emphatic 4-1 victory.

Luis Muriel gave the visitors a surprise lead in the 19th minute, but Giampaolo Pazzini equalised for the hosts before the break and second-half strikes from Diego Milito, Esteban Cambiasso and Ricardo Alvarez completed the comeback.

Napoli secured only their second win in their past eight Serie A outings courtesy of a 6-1 demolition of Genoa at Stadio San Paolo.

Napoli raced into a three-goal lead inside 25 minutes thanks to an Edison Cavani brace and a Marek Hamsik strike.

Cristobal Jorquera pulled one back for Genoa before Goran Pandev made it 4-1 at the break while further goals by Walter Gargano and Camilo Zuniga added gloss to the scoreline in the second half.

Roma ended the year with an impressive 2-0 road win at Bologna.

Rodrigo Taddei put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute before Daniel Osvaldo doubled the lead before half-time.

Atalanta ended a run of five Serie A draws with a thumping 4-1 home win over lowly Cesena.

Antonio Candreva fired Cesena ahead after 11 minutes but it was all the home side thereafter as a Guido Marilungo first-half double sent them on their way.

German Denis also scored from the penalty spot before the break before Federico Peluso sealed what was in the end a comfortable, and long overdue, success for the Bergamo club.

Palermo somehow found a way to ensure Bortolo Mutti's first game in charge did not end in victory as Novara recovered from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2.

With Devis Mangia dismissed as coach after Sunday's 2-0 loss at Catania, the Rosanero powerbrokers called on Mutti to try and steer their side back into European contention.

Their decision looked to have worked too, with a Carlalberto Ludi own goal and a strike from Nicolas Bertolo putting them on course for the win even in spite of Josip Ilicic's first-half red card.

But Andrea Mazzarani started a Biancoazzurri fightback with 13 minutes left, and Marco Rigoni equalised with six minutes remaining to stun the visitors.

Substitute Andrea Catellani scored five minutes from time to secure a point for Catania in a six-goal thriller at Parma.

Francesco Modesto put Parma in front in the fifth minute, before Sergio Almiron and Jonathan Biabiany traded quickfire strikes to leave the hosts 2-1 in front.

Sergio Floccari extended the lead to two goals, before Francesco Lodi's 74th-minute penalty and Catellani's late leveller.

AC Milan returned to the top of Serie A on Tuesday thanks to an efficient 2-0 win over Cagliari at the Stadio Sant Elia.

It was a one-sided game in Sardinia, though the final result told a different story with Cagliari doing all of the attacking but Milan taking the spoils by converting two out of four chances.

An own goal from Francesco Pisano in the fourth minute did Milan a favour before Zlatan Ibrahimovic wrapped up the win in the 60th minute of a game otherwise dominated by the home team, who just could not find a goal for all their efforts.

In Tuesday's other match, Siena and Fiorentina shared the spoils in a keenly-contested Tuscan derby which ended goalless.

The Serie A campaign continues on January 8 2011.