Juventus move fourteen points clear with win over Empoli; Inter held

A fourth straight Serie A title is Juventus' for the taking after they beat Empoli 2-0 on Saturday night to establish a 14-point advantage at the top of the table with nine games of the season remaining.

Carlos Tevez opened the scoring shortly before the interval and Roberto Pereyra added a second in stoppage time as the Bianconeri responded to wins from Roma and Lazio to restore a seemingly unassailable lead at the top of the standings.

They also had goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to thank for making several fine interventions in the second half when Juve dropped their intensity, saving their batteries for a trip to Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia in midweek and the Champions League quarter-final clash with Monaco a week after.

Miralem Pjanic's 15th-minute goal was enough to earn Rudi Garcia's men all three points, although they had to survive a storm at the Stadio Olimpico as Napoli pushed in vain for an equaliser.

The win ensures the Giallorossi will remain second this weekend having put enough of a gap between themselves and city rivals Lazio.

Inter Milan left the San Siro to a deafening chorus of boos from the home fans after they were held to a 1-1 draw by rock-bottom Parma.

Fredy Guarin gave Inter the lead in the 25th minute, but Andi Lila levelled just before half-time.

The Nerazzurri failed to find a winner in the second half, seeing their diminishing hopes of playing in Europe next season suffer another setback as Parma picked up only their tenth point of the season.

AC Milan picked up their first win away from home since mid-October, and only their third of the season, by beating Palermo 2-1 at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.

Alessio Cerci gave Filippo Inzaghi's men the lead after 37 minutes, but a Paulo Dybala penalty brought the hosts level in the 72nd minute.

Jeremy Menez restored Milan's lead 10 minutes later, earning them all three points and keeping their hopes alive of qualifying for Europe next season.

Mohammed Salah scored his fifth goal since joining Fiorentina on loan to help his side defeat Sampdoria 2-0 to climb into fourth place.

Allesandro Diamanti opened the scoring in the 61st minute and Salah danced through the defence to score three minutes later.

Lazio kept the heat on second-place Roma by clinching a seventh consecutive success, 3-1 at 10-man Cagliari.

Miroslav Klose put the Roman outfit ahead in the 31st minute only for Marco Sau to pull Cagliari level four minutes into the second half.

Lucas Biglia put the visitors back in front on the hour from the penalty spot after Lorenzo Crisetig brought substitute Keita down in the area.

Former Lazio defender Mobido Diakite was shown a straight red eight minutes later when he fouled Keita in the box, but Biglia sent the resulting penalty over the crossbar. Lazio put the game out of reach with seconds remaining when Marco Parolo struck from outside the area to make it 3-1.