Teenager Mario Balotelli scored his first goal in Serie A on Sunday and Inter Milan restored their four-point lead in the title race with a 2-0 victory over Atalanta.
Balotelli scored in the 74th after Patrick Vieira had put Inter ahead with a goal in the 21st.
On Saturday, second-placed AS Roma defeated Genoa 3-2.
Inter have 72 points, Roma 68 and Juventus, who lost to Palermo 3-2, have 58.
Roma had made up seven points in the standings in the last seven rounds to stay in the race for the league title. Inter, undefeated in the league until a month ago, have been unable to shrug off a series of injuries — and a surging Roma.
“This doesn’t depend on Roma, it depends on us,’’ Inter coach Roberto Mancini said. “If we win they can’t catch us. You can win the championship by one point, two or three and right now we are ahead by four.’’
With striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic out nursing a sore knee, Mancini turned to 18-year-old Balotelli to replace the Sweden international who is fourth in Serie A with 15 goals.
“Balotelli is a young lad with great skills and when you are that young you don’t worry about the importance of a game, you go out and you have fun,’’ Mancini said. “We played well against a team that is in great condition. This was not an easy game because they defended well and didn’t give us much space.’’
Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso returned to the lineup after missing two games because of an injury. In the four league games Cambiasso has sat out this year, Inter have suffered their only two league losses of the season and drawn the other two.
“Cambiasso is a very smart player and gives equilibrium to the team, but as important as he is, one player doesn’t make the team,’’ Mancini said. “We have had many players out with injuries.’’
Also on Sunday, Amauri and Alessandro Del Piero each scored twice as Palermo edged Juventus 3-2. The goals gave the strikers 13 each for the season.
Amauri put Palermo ahead in the 11th on a shot from outside the area that hit the inside of the post and ricocheted into the net. In first-half injury time, the Brazilian forward powered a header past Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from close range, despite him getting a hand on the ball.
After allowing Palermo to control the first half, Juventus came out aggressively after the halftime break with Del Piero scoring in the 52nd following a melee in front of the Palermo net. Del Piero scored again from close range in the 71st.
Juventus laid siege to the Palermo goal for the next 15 minutes with Del Piero coming close to a hat-trick in the 80th with a free kick from 30m that hit the post. Palermo keeper Alberto Fontana then made a spectacular save when David Trezeguet tried to knock in the rebound.
After several other good opportunities for Juventus, Palermo defender Mattia Cassani scored in the 89th from 26m on a shot that left Buffon, who was unsighted by one of his defenders, stranded.
“They took three shots on goal and scored three times,’’ Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said. “We should have won 4-2, but soccer is sometimes like that.’’
In Florence, Giampaolo Pazzini scored his ninth of the year and Adrian Mutu his 16th to lead Fiorentina to a 2-0 victory over last-place Reggina.
The win puts Fiorentina four points ahead of AC Milan and Sampdoria in the battle for fourth place.
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