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Serie A round-up

Image: Kaka: Opening goal for Milan

AC Milan clinched third place as Torino were relegated and Bologna survived the drop.

Milan claim third as Torino are relegated

AC Milan clinched third place with a 2-0 win over Fiorentina as Torino were relegated and Bologna survived the drop. AC Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti has been heavily linked with the vacant manager's position at Chelsea and, with an announcement about his future expected at the end of the match, his troops needed to stay focused on their crucial match against Fiorentina. Milan started the day three points ahead of their rivals but positions in Italy are determined by head-to-head results so they needed to avoid defeat by more than one goal. There were no goals in the first half but Brazilian forward Kaka, whose own future has been the subject of much speculation, popped up in the 55th minute to fire Milan ahead. Alexandre Pato then found the target 14 minutes from time to book a UEFA Champions League group stage spot for the Rossoneri, with fourth-placed Fiorentina going into the potentially dangerous final qualifying round. The other main issue to be resolved was who would join already-relegated Reggina and Lecce in Serie B next season. Bologna needed to win to secure their safety and they held their nerve to beat Catania 3-1. Early goals from Nicola Mingazzini and Claudio Terzi set Bologna on their way, before Catania reduced their arrears through Takayuki Morimoto. Marco Di Vaio gave Bologna a two-goal cushion again and Catania could not respond. Torino had been hoping to overhaul Bologna to stay in the league but they suffered a 3-2 defeat at Roma. Tommaso Vailatti put Torino in front after nine minutes but Roma hit back thanks to goals from Jeremey Menez, Mirko Vucinic and Francesco Totti. Nicola Ventola pulled one back for Torino late on but it mattered little as their demise had already been sealed. Champions Inter Milan prevailed 4-3 in an entertaining encounter with Atalanta. The scoreline stood at 2-2 at half-time, with Sulley Muntari and Zlatan Ibrahimovic netting for Inter and Cristiano Doni and Luca Cigarini grabbing Atalanta's goals. Doni then gave Atalanta a surprise 3-2 lead before Esteban Cambiasso equalised ten minutes from time and Ibrahimovic pounced for a late winner. Juventus ended their campaign with a flourish as a Vincenzo Iaquinta double (3 and 59) propelled them to a 2-0 victory over Lazio. Fifth-placed Genoa celebrated their Europa League qualification by hammering bottom club Lecce 4-1 in their final game of the campaign. Bosko Jankovic's opener was cancelled out by Lecce before half-time but Genoa ran riot after the interval. Domenico Criscito restored their advantage in the 52nd minute before Diego Milito bagged a brace. Udinese put on a show for their supporters by thrashing Cagliari 6-2 to finish the season with a run of eight unbeaten games. Kwadwo Asamoah, Simone Pepe, Antonio Floro Flores, Giovanni Pasquale, Fabio Quagliarella and Odion Ighalo all got in on the act for Udinese. Robert Acquafresca converted a penalty for Cagliari and Andrea Parola also struck as defences on both sides struggled. Palermo surrendered a two-goal advantage as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Sampdoria. Fabrizio Miccoli and Davide Succi put Palermo in control but Giampaolo Pazzini brought it back to 2-1 on the stroke of half-time. Marius Stankevicius then sealed a point for Samp with a goal on 58 minutes. Napoli cruised to a 3-0 success at home to Chievo in a battle between two sides in the bottom half of the table. The damage was done inside the opening 20 minutes as Francesco Montervino, Mariano Bogliacino and Inacio Pia all struck. Reggina and Siena played out a 1-1 draw in the final game of the day as Cristian Stuani's penalty was equalised by former Middlesbrough forward Massimo Maccarone.

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