Serie A round-up

Milan kept up the pressure on leaders Juventus with a comfortable 2-0 win at Cagliari's Stadio san Elia.

Juve's 1-0 win over Messina on Saturday extended their Serie A lead to eight points and left Milan in desperate need of three points in order to keep Fabio Capello's high-flyers in check.

Milan were gifted the perfect start when after less than a minute a defensive mix-up from the hosts allowed Alberto Gilardino to prod home.

Andrei Shevchenko doubled the Rossoneri's lead and effectively wrapped up the three points in the 27th minute when his left foot blockbuster from 25 yards deceived Fabian Carini in goal.

Cagliari remain in the bottom three and winless after seven games.

Internazionale are back to within six points of Serie A leaders Juventus following a 5-0 demolition of 10-man Livorno.

There was only going to be one winner at Giuseppe Meazza with early goals from Marco Materazzi and Julio Cruz putting the Nerazzurri two-up.

Any hope the visitors had of getting back into the match evaporated when Francesco Coco was sent off and just moments later Esteban Cambiasso made it 3-0.

Inter had no intention of taking their foot off the pedal and further efforts from Ivan Cordoba and Alvaro Recoba put the icing on the cake.

Lazio have moved level with high-flying Fiorentina following a 1-0 success over the Viola.

It had looked like the game might finish goalless until Luciano Zauri's late winner for the home side.

Sampdoria remain in fifth after Vittorio Tosto's brace gave Ascoli a 2-1 success.

Tosto's first arrived on the stroke of half time, however Emiliano Bonazzoli levelled matters just nine minutes after the restart.

The home side were not to be denied and Tosto's second after 79 minutes proved to be the match winner.

10-man Empoli stunned Roma 1-0 at Stadio Carlo Castellani.

The home side had Stefano Lucchini sent off after 27 minutes, but still won thanks to Francesco Tavano's winner just before the hour mark.

Reggina sank Lecce 2-0 thanks to goals either side of half time from Giacomo Tedesco and Francesco Cozza.

Any hopes the visitors harboured of getting back into the match ended when Cristian Ledesma was sent off for collecting two yellow cards late on.

Treviso stay bottom of the table after drawing 1-1 away to Parma.

The lowly outfit showed great character to cancel out Fabio Simplicio's opener through Dino Fava midway through the second half.

Palermo snatched a late point at home to Chievo thanks to Andrea Caracciolo's late equaliser.

Things began well for Palermo with Eugenio Corini opening the scoring from the penalty spot after 14 minutes.

However, the visitors were in front at the interval thanks to a brace from Carvalho Amauri - his second from the penalty spot.

Shortly before full time the home side were reduced to 10 men due to Giuseppe Blavia's dismissal but there was still time for Caracciolo to level the match.

Serie A:
Ascoli 2-1 Sampdoria
Empoli 1-0 Roma
Internazionale 5-0 Livorno
Lazio 1-0 Fiorentina
Palermo 2-2 Chievo
Parma 1-1 Treviso
Reggina 2-0 Lecce
Cagliari 0-2 Milan