Lazio eased to a 2-0 win over Napoli to maintain their title challenge at the summit of the Serie A table. Mauro Zarate put the home side ahead in the 15th minute and Sergio Floccari sealed the win after an hour as Edy Reja's side ended a run of two straight defeats. Napoli hit the woodwork once and missed several other chances, but Lazio held onto all three points.

In the most anticipated Serie A fixture this weekend, AC Milan defeated arch-rivals Internazionale 1-0 in the latest Milan derby. A fifth-minute penalty from former Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was enough to see off the defending champions and return Milan to the top of the Serie A standings. Milan ended with 10 men after Ignazio Abate was sent off on the hour mark, but Rafael Benitez's Inter failed to capitalise on their man advantage. Inter are now in fifth place, six points behind Milan.

Elsewhere in Italy, Javier Pastore hit a hat-trick as Palermo eased to a 3-1 victory over Catania. Pastore opened the scoring after 33 minutes and added his second just seconds after Christian Terlizzi had struck a 46th-minute leveller. The Argentinian made sure of the win when he completed his treble five minutes from full-time.

There was also a hat-trick on the cards at the Stadio Friuli in Udine, with Antonio Di Natale scor a first-half hat-trick to fire Udinese to a 4-0 victory over Lecce. Di Natale opened the scoring in the 11th minute before adding his second before the half-hour mark. The Italy international made it 3-0 five minutes before the break and Antonio Floro Flores capped off a wonderful afternoon for the hosts in the 55th minute. David Di Michele had a chance to give Lecce a consolation goal deep in injury time but his penalty was saved by Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.

Davide Ballardini extended his perfect record as coach of Genoa with a 1-0 triumph at Cagliari, Andrea Ranocchia scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute.

Bologna climbed out of the relegation zone thanks to Marco Di Vaio's 58th-minute winner in a 1-0 victory over Brescia, who drop into the bottom three. Bologna finished the game with ten men after Gaby Mudingayi earned his second yellow card after 83 minutes.

Bari's plight at the foot of the standings worsened as they missed a penalty and were made to pay as Antonio Candreva's 33rd-minute goal won all three points for Parma. Bari's misery was completed late on when they lost Salvatore Masiello to a straight red card and Massimo Donati to a second booking to end the game with nine men.

The game between Sampdoria and Chievo ended goalless, keeping the pair fixed in the middle of the table.