Sampdoria defeat Fiorentina

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A review of the weekend's action so far in Italy's Serie A, as Sampdoria claim a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina.

Sampdoria returned to the Champions League places by beating Fiorentina 3-1 in a frenetic clash at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The opening 45 minutes witnessed three goals and a saved penalty as Samp battled to reclaim third place from Napoli, while Fiorentina appeared determined to escape from mid-table obscurity.

Angelo Palombo notched first for the hosts, from the spot, minutes before Fiorentina midfielder Gonzalo Rodriguez saw his penalty snaffled by Sergio Romero. Luca Rizzo and Stefan Savic then exchanged goals just before the break.

Eder rubber-stamped the Blucerchiati's first league win in four attempts with a 78th-minute strike.

Genoa won a third straight Serie A game with a 4-2 triumph at Udinese to end the Friulian outfit's unbeaten home run.

Each team scored twice in the opening half but Alessandro Matri put the visitors in front for good in the 54th minute.

Udinese wasted several chances to equalise before substitute Juraj Kucka netted Genoa's fourth goal late on.

Genoa, the only side to have beaten league leaders Juventus this season, climbed to fifth while Udinese slumped to eighth with their third defeat in four games.

Torino fans will have to wait longer for their team to win two Serie A games in a row as they were held to a goalless draw by Atalanta, while Chievo halted a four-match losing streak with a goalless draw at home to Sassuolo.

Juventus capitalised on Roma's Saturday afternoon defeat to re-establish a three-point lead in Serie A by beating 10-man Empoli 2-0 at Stadio Carlo Castellani.

The Italian champions' outright dominance of the league table disappeared last weekend thanks to their shock loss at Genoa, a result which allowed Roma to join them in a share of first place.

The capital club went down 2-0 at Napoli on Saturday, however, meaning goals from Andrea Pirlo and Alvaro Morata in Tuscany handed the initiative back to the Bianconeri in this year's title race.

Victory in Naples would have lifted the Giallorossi temporarily three points clear of Juve but after Gonzalo Higuain fired a stylish early opener Roma were largely second best.

Rudi Garcia's men did mount a rally after the break, yet their second defeat of the season was ultimately confirmed by a late strike from the industrious Jose Callejon.

Later on Saturday, Paolo De Ceglie secured a long-overdue victory for struggling Parma with two goals to down Inter Milan 2-0 at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

The on-loan Juve winger's first career brace arrived at a vital time as it arrested Parma's desperate streak of six consecutive defeats and put them within sight of an escape from the relegation zone.

Despite registering back-to-back wins over the last seven days Inter's third defeat of the season leaves them marooned in eighth place and with plenty of work to do to make the European spots.