Internazionale maintained their four-point lead at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win over Fiorentina at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, after Roma had temporarily closed the gap with a 3-1 comeback win at Udinese.

After being kept at bay in the first half by a string of fine saves from visiting goalkeeper Sebastien Frey, Inter broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second period when Esteban Cambiasso tapped home from close range.

Mario Balotelli extended Inter's lead moments later when he calmly slotted home after being released by Julio Cruz, and Inter never looked in danger of letting their opponents back into the game.

League leaders Inter took to the field against fourth-placed Fiorentina in the knowledge that title rivals Roma had moved to within a point after their victory in Udine.

And it was the home side who threatened first, when Patrick Vieira's powerful header was tipped over the crossbar by Frey.

Fiorentina demonstrated their counter-attacking credentials at regular intervals, but it was Inter who looked the more likely scorers, and Frey was twice called into action in the space of a minute with half an hour gone.

First he sprang to his left to push away a fierce long-range drive from Inter skipper Javier Zanetti, before parrying Cruz's header from the resulting corner at his near post.

The first period was largely lacking in goalmouth incident, but minutes before half-time Frey came to the Viola's rescue again when he did brilliantly to push Cruz's close range header over the bar.

The home side began the second period with a real sense of purpose, and within 10 minutes they were ahead when Cambiasso slammed home Vieira's centre from the edge of the six yard box.

Young forward Balotelli was starting in place of injured Inter top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and shortly afterwards he made it 2-0, latching onto Cruz's measured pass and confidently tucking the ball past the advancing Frey.

Udinese 1-3 Roma

Roma came from a goal down to beat Udinese 3-1 after an entertaining game at the Stadio Friuli.

Udinese skipper Antonio Di Natale gave his side the lead shortly after half-time with a close range header before Mirko Vucinic equalised with a well-taken half-volley.

Rodrigo Taddei's composed finish put the visitors in front with 20 minutes remaining, and substitute Ludovic Giuly made sure of the points in the last minute.

Roma went into the game knowing that a victory would close the gap on Inter to a point ahead of their game against Fiorentina, and they were boosted by the return from a thigh injury of influential captain Francesco Totti.

Totti forced Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic into a save with a stinging 40-yard free-kick as Roma started well, and Vucinic went close after 20 minutes when he expertly controlled a pass on his chest before volleying wide.

But Udinese posed a constant threat on the break, and after Pepe extended Doni with a 30-yard effort, Gaetano D'Agostino curled a left-footed free-kick narrowly wide of the right-hand post.

Zebrette defender Aleksandar Lukovic saw his downward header cleared off the line by Taddei on 33 minutes, but Roma came back into the game as half-time approached, with Totti flashing a half-volley over the crossbar and then drawing a save from Handanovic with another long-range dead ball effort.

Di Natale nearly put Udinese ahead within seconds of the re-start when he shot straight at Doni from 15 yards, but he made amends minutes later when he headed home Andrea Dossena's left-wing cross at the back post to put his side ahead.

Doni and defender Christian Panucci were involved in an angry confrontation in the aftermath of the goal, but the visitors were quickly back on the attack in search of a leveller.

Totti twice came close to equalising, sending a sidefooted effort over the bar from 15 yards - and blaming the referee for getting in his way - before scuffing a rebound wide when Daniele De Rossi's shot was parried.

Andrea Coda then went close to gifting Roma an equaliser when he deflected a cross against his own post, before Vucinic did draw the visitors level, cushioning David Pizarro's dinked pass on his chest before slotting the ball past Handanovic.

Roma had the wind in their sails, and Taddei gave them the lead on 70 minutes when he moved onto De Rossi's pass and placed the ball past Handanovic with his left foot, before Giuly sealed the win with a drilled left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner.

Empoli 1 Parma 1

Cristiano Lucarelli's deflected early header put Parma ahead but Sebastian Giovinco picked his spot to bring strugglers Empoli level after half an hour.

Empoli are one from bottom but just a point behind Hector Cuper's Parma, who are one place above the drop zone with a game in hand at Juventus on Wednesday.

Genoa 3 Torino 0

Marco Di Vaio tapped in to give Genoa a deserved lead early in the second half after the home side had dominated the first period.

Strike partner and Serie A top scorer Marco Borriello then bagged his 19th of the season after Torino had failed to clear and Giuseppe Sculli made it three for Genoa, who have an outside chance of UEFA Cup qualification.

Lazio 1 Siena 1

Simone Loria snatched a late equaliser for the visitors after Lazio's Massimo Mutarelli had cracked home from outside the box just before the break.

The home side rested several players for Wednesday's Coppa Italia semi-final first leg with Internazionale.

Livorno 1 Cagliari 2

Robert Acquafresca scored twice to boost Cagliari's hopes of beating the drop and leave the hosts in trouble at the bottom.

Livorno's Fabio Galante slid home Antonio Filippini's low cross after just two minutes but the Sardinians soon equalised when Acquafresca scored on the rebound and he grabbed his second with a confident finish in the second half.

Francesco Tavano missed a glorious chance for the hosts before Cagliari's Alessandro Agostini struck the woodwork from distance.

Napoli 2 Atalanta 0

Slovakia's Marek Hamsik broke the deadlock in the mid-table battle with a controlled finish after Ezequiel Lavezzi's shot had been saved and the midfielder returned the favour when he crossed for Lavezzi to bundle home three minutes later.

Reggina 1 Sampdoria 0

Franco Brienza rounded the keeper to give Reggina fresh hope of avoiding the drop in Sampdoria coach Walter Mazzarri's first return to his former club.

Reggina are third from bottom and a point from safety with five games to go.

Tom Williams / Eurosport / Reuters