Inter Milan extended its lead in Serie A yesterday after Ivan Cordoba and Sulley Muntari scored first-half goals in a 2-1 victory over Napoli.

Cordoba scored his second goal of the year in the 16th minute to put Inter in front. Muntari also got his second tally of the season to make it 2-0 in the 25th, after also scoring last week against Juventus.

Ezequiel Lavezzi responded in the 36th for Napoli, which has lost its last three road games.

"We wanted to draw this game and we almost got there," Napoli coach Edoardo Reja said. "The team is playing good football and I'm satisfied with our performance. It's clear that sometimes we can give more, but to lose in Milan against Inter is acceptable."

Inter moved to 33 points, six more than AC Milan and Juventus, which defeated Reggina on Saturday. Napoli is fourth with 24 points.

"I'm very happy with the 33 points we have after 14 games," Inter coach Jose Mourinho said. "We are not scoring three, four or five goals a game, but we are scoring enough to win. Points are points and we are playing with intelligence and have good balance, these are things that define a great group that plays well together."

Palermo, which had only one victory in its previous seven games, got goals in the second half from Fabrizio Miccoli, Edison Cavani and Fabio Simplicio to defeat AC Milan 3-1.

Miccoli scored his seventh of the year in the 50th after having forced Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to make several diving saves in the first half. Cavani doubled the lead nine minutes later on a sharply angled header that barely eluded the outstretched Abbiati. Simplicio made it 3-0 in the 80th.

Milan striker Alexandre Pato left the game after 25 minutes with an injury sustained when Palermo 'keeper Marco Amelia took him down just inside the area. Amelia then stopped Ronaldinho's penalty kick.

A few minutes later, Ronaldinho almost redeemed himself, but his free kick bounced off the crossbar. The Brazil striker got another chance in the 83rd, earning and then converting a penalty.

Filippo Inzaghi came on for Pato, but was unable to bring Milan back into the game. After scoring 10 goals last year, Inzaghi has seen little playing time this season and has just two goals.

In Rome, Francesco Totti scored in the 59th to give AS Roma a 1-0 victory over Fiorentina. After falling to one point clear of relegation, Roma is moving toward the middle of the standings after three straight wins. Totti also hit the post during the game, and Julio Baptista came close to doubling the score for Roma, hitting the crossbar late in the second half.

Totti has scored in Roma's last three games, including a 3-1 victory over CFR Cluj in the Champions League, and has seemingly overcome injuries that sidelined him at the end of last season and hampered him earlier in this campaign.

Roma, which fought with Inter for the championship up to the last game of last season, has 17 points with a game in hand.

"Right now all we can do is try to make our way up the table," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. "We are still very far behind. Every win from now on will serve to move us up the table, while previously the wins were good for restoring team confidence."

After six wins at home so far this year, Genoa managed only a 1-1 draw at its stadium against relegation-zone Bologna. Genoa's Diego Milito, who leads Serie A with 11 goals, missed a good chance in injury time.

Also Sunday, it was: Atalanta 2, Lazio 0; Cagliari 1, Sampdoria 0; Siena 1, Torino 0; and Udinese 0 Chievo Verona 1.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily December 1, 2008)