A goal in each half from Patrick Vieira and Mario Balotelli gave champions Internazionale a 2-0 win over Atalanta in Bergamo to restore a four-point lead over Roma at the top of the Serie A table.

In the late game, a stunning late Mattia Cassani strike settled a 3-2 thriller at the Stadio Renzo Barbera as Palermo shocked third-placed Juventus.

Elsewhere, Fiorentina beat Reggina 2-0 to further stamp their authority on fourth place, while Udinese could only muster a 1-1 draw at Siena.

Atalanta 0-2 Intenazionale

The result at the Stadio Azzurri d'Italia finally signalled a return to form for the champions after a disappointing and worrying recent run that has seen them fail to win in their last three league outings.

The first half failed to capture the imagination as Atalanta struggled to impose themselves in the final third and Inter - missing several key players - lacked the fluency that has characterised their play for much of the season.

And they were made to pay for their initially timid approach to the game when Vieira opened the scoring in the 21st minute, heading in Balotelli's well delivered corner.

17-year-old Balotelli played with a confidence that belied his tender years, but it was his more experienced striker partner Hernan Crespo who posed a more real threat to the Atalanta goal early on.

The Argentine forced Coppola into a save with an early diving header before he had the ball in the back of the net on 38 minutes. But on both occasions, the linesman had correctly flagged the striker offside.

Esteban Cambiasso also went close for the champions, on 11 minutes, but his shot flashed wide of the mark.

Atalanta came out for the second half in much more determined mood, and their resurgence was summed up by Sergio Floccari's sharp turn and shot at the near post which forced Julio Cesar into action in the 56th minute.

At 1-0, and with Atalanta beginning to play further up the field, there was always a chance of an upset, but Balotelli dampened any hopes the home crowd harboured of getting something from the game with a fine finish on 74 minutes.

The Ghana-born youngster - who has pledged his international future to his adopted country Italy - ran onto a knock-on from substitute Julio Cruz before rounding Coppola and coolly slotting into an empty net.

The goal effectively killed off the game and Atalanta could do little else to maintain what had prior to the match been an impressive seven-game undefeated home run.

To compound their misery, the hosts finished the game with ten men after skipper Cristiano Doni was shown a second yellow for dissent in stoppage time.

Palermo 3-2 Juventus

Cassani struck a 30-yard screamer in the 88th minute to hand Palermo all three points at the end of an action-packed evening on Sicily.

An Amauri brace had given the hosts a two-goal advantage before half-time only for a spirited second-half Juventus comeback to see Alessandro Del Piero also net twice and level things up.

But, despite intense pressure from the visitors as time ran out, Palermo managed to make a rare break into the opposition half and Cassani netted a real contender for goal of the season to give the Rosanero a memorable victory at the death.

Palermo had raced out of the blocks, Amauri immediately announcing his presence with a long range effort that flew wide of Gigi Buffon's upright seconds after kick-off.

The Brazilian continued to make a nuisance of himself in the opening stages, so when he put the hosts into the lead, it came as no surprise. What might have caught the Inter defence unawares, however, was the sheer quality of the goal, as he curled a beauty into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area.

The goal spurred Palermo on to maintain their high tempo game, until a sickening clash of heads between Pavel Nedved and Roberto Guana on 20 minutes resulted in a five-minute break in play as both players were treated before being stretchered off.

The game struggled to get going again afterwards, and other than a Georgio Chiellini header over the bar, the remainder of the opening 45 minutes were played out without incident.

But with five extra minutes added on at the end of the half as a result of the lengthy stoppage, there was still time for Amauri to net a second for the Rosanero. This time, the striker leapt high to meet Fabio Caserta's cross with a thumping header past Buffon.

But credit to Juve, they refused to let their heads go down and soon after coming out for the second half, Del Piero had pulled a goal back, the veteran striker proving his instinct for goal has not faded with time.

Del Piero was in the right place at the right time after Alberto Fontana could only parry Momo Sissoko's fierce drive into the striker's path on 52 minutes. Del Piero did the rest.

And he was on hand once again 19 minutes later in almost a carbon copy of his first, only it was David Trezeguet's header this time that forced Fontana into a super stop before the ball came out to Del Piero.

The Bianconeri captain was then denied a hat-trick by the upright as his brilliant free-kick struck a post and the unfortunate Trezeguet saw his header on the rebound brilliantly tipped over the bar by Fontana.

Claudio Ranieri's side were to rue their misfortune in front of goal, as Cassani settled the game with his brilliant strike as time ran out.

Catania 3-0 Napoli

The home side are three clear of the drop zone after a confident victory in Walter Zenga's first game in charge. Giuseppe Colucci netted early on when his free kick from out wide bypassed everyone in the box and striker Gionatha Spinesi soon extended the lead. Juan Manuel Vargas then powerfully volleyed home just after the restart.

Fiorentina 2-0 Reggina

Striker Giampaolo Pazzini nodded home Manuel Pasqual's cross midway through the first half and Adrian Mutu scored late on to keep fourth-placed Fiorentina four points clear of Milan. Franco Brienza struck the post with a left-foot shot before halftime for struggling Reggina, who drop to the bottom.

Parma 2-2 Lazio

All the goals were scored in a frantic first half with Massimo Paci's diving header giving Parma the draw. Igor Budan took advantage of a lucky break in midfield to stride forward to score for the hosts before Lazio's Goran Pandev smashed in at the near post and team mate Rolando Bianchi fired in from the edge of the area for the visitors. Parma played in black and there was a minute's applause before kick off to remember Matteo Bagnaresi, the fan knocked over and killed by a bus travelling to last weekend's postponed game at Juventus.

Sampdoria 2-0 Livorno

Christian Maggio clipped in after some poor defending and Emiliano Bonazzoli netted late on to put Sampdoria into sixth and leave Livorno dangling over the drop zone. Samp forward Antonio Cassano returned from a five-game ban and was back to his best, pulling all the strings in his second-striker role. Livorno's Francesco Tavano had an effort ruled out for a foul at 0-0.

Siena 1-1 Udinese

Substitute Antonio Floro Flores grabbed a draw for Udinese only minutes after coming on but they still slipped to seventh. Morocco international midfielder Houssine Kharja put the hosts ahead with a low shot from outside the area.

Torino 0-1 Empoli

Ighli Vannucchi snatched a late winner to take strugglers Empoli off the bottom after Torino had wasted a number of opportunities. Home forward Alvaro Recoba struck the bar with a curling free kick and team mate David Di Michele headed wide of an open goal after having a good penalty shout turned down.

Mike Hytner / Reuters