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LEGA CALCIO: Fiorentina boost European prospects

Catania's Brazilian forward Ignacio Pia heads the ball during their match against Fiorentina in Florence, Italy, on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

Fiorentina moved back into Champions League contention with a 2-1 home win over Catania on Sunday as they reclaimed fourth spot in Serie A from AC Milan.

Zradko Kuzmanovic gave Fiorentina the lead after 41 minutes heading in a Mario Alberto Santana cross.

But Catania levelled on the hour when Juan Vargas unleashed a powerful long-range drive which was too hot for goalkeeper Vlada Avramov to handle.

It was a tough top flight debut for Avramov, who had replaced Sebastien Frey, who had picked up a thigh injury, in the first half.

Romanian striker Adrian Mutu, however, hit his 14 league goal of the season to give Fiorentina the three points with a 20m strike.

Fiorentina now have 41 points, three more than Milan, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Parma on Saturday.

Sampdoria won the Genoa derby, and kept their UEFA Cup qualification hopes alive, with a 1-0 victory thanks to an 87th-minute winner from Christian Maggio after the home side were reduced to 10 men following the sending off of Brazilian defender Danilo.

On Saturday, Inter Milan took another huge step closer to the title after extending their lead at the top to 11 points.

Defending champions Inter saw off Livorno 2-0 at the San Siro while closest challengers Roma lost 1-0 at third-place Juventus.

There was also disappointment for AC Milan who could not provide veteran defender Paolo Maldini with a victory on his 1,000th match in professional soccer as they drew 0-0 at lowly Parma.

Roma missed the chance to keep pace with the champions as veteran Juve forward Alessandro Del Piero's bullet free-kick on the stroke of half-time settled the match.

It means Juve are just a point behind Roma in third and will rest up in midweek as Roma tackle Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Del Piero rifled an unstoppable shot into the top corner after Pavel Nedved had drawn a foul from French center-back Philippe Mexes just over 20m from goal.

The closest Roma came to equalizing was straight after the goal as Juve defender Nicola Legrottaglie turned a cross from Rodrigo Taddei onto his own post.
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