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Milan closed the gap on second-placed Juventus to two points in Serie A with a 1-0 victory at home to Cagliari as David Beckham lasted for almost the full 90 minutes.

Clarence Seedorf scored the only goal of the game, sliding home from 12 yards with visiting goalkeeper Federico Marchetti stranded.

Beckham played on the right flank and was involved in a good deal of the play in the first half; however his contribution in the second was more sporadic.

Carlo Ancelotti brought him off in the second minute of injury-time and the England star held ice to his head on the bench as his side held on for the three points despite a lacklustre display.

There were few clear-cut openings, with Cagliari coming closest to a goal in the opening 45 minutes when Andrea Cossu teed up striker Robert Acquafresca - on loan from Milan's city rivals Internazionale - and Christian Abbiati saved with his legs.

Veteran Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi stuck the ball away soon afterwards on 21 minutes but was correctly adjudged offside.

Beckham was Milan's main creative threat along with Seedorf, his arrowed crosses placing great pressure on the away defence - with a low one between the Rossoblu players and their goalkeeper inches ahead of the arriving Inzaghi and Marek Jankulovski.

With limited attacking options on the bench owing to injuries to attackers Andriy Shevchenko, Marco Borriello, Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato, as well as playmaker Kaka, Milan's fans became increasingly restless at their side's inability to break down Cagliari.

Five minutes after the break visiting midfielder Andrea Cossu let fly with a thunderous shot from 30 yards out which cannoned off the inside of the post and flew behind the diving Abbiati and to safety.

That quietened the crowd inside the San Siro, but they rose to hail what turned out to be the winning goal in the 65th minute.

There was confusion in the away penalty area as Diego Lopez flew back to head straight at team-mate Marchetti; the suprised keeper blocked the ball and it fell kindly for Dutchman Seedorf near the penalty spot - and he stroked it home.

Beckham was involved in a fracas in the dying moments of the match after Abbiati was caught by Michele Fini in a melee near the edge of the box, and his afternoon ended shortly after.

Inter warmed up for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Manchester United with a 2-1 win at Bologna on Saturday.

Napoli 0-1 Genoa

Genoa were rewarded for showing more determination in the second half when substitute Bosko Jankovic rifled home the only goal.

Napoli have picked up just two points in their last seven games and were jeered off the pitch by the home fans.

Sampdoria 1-0 Atalanta

Giampaolo Pazzini gave Samp the spoils just after the hour mark with his fourth goal in as many games after being set up by Antonio Cassano's delightful chip over the defensive line.

Fiorentina 2-1 Chievo

Adrian Mutu coolly drove home the winner deep into stoppage time, although skirmishes broke out as the visitors were angry the Romanian had scored with one of their players down hurt.

Mutu's strike partner Alberto Gilardino headed the equaliser in the 73rd minute after defender Santiago Morero had fired in from close range to give the visitors the lead.

Second-from-bottom Chievo had midfielder Vincenzo Italiano sent off for a second yellow card in the 82nd minute.

Lecce 0-2 Lazio

Lazio's Pasquale Foggia opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a volley that took a big deflection from Lecce defender Guglielmo Stendardo.

Aleksandar Kolarov completed a strong run with a splendid diagonal strike from the left to make it 2-0 six minutes into the second half as Lazio ended a six-match winless run in the league.

Lecce hit the woodwork three times, but Lazio had a first-half goal by Goran Pandev wrongly disallowed for offside.

Catania 2-0 Reggina

Ciro Capuano's left-footed piledriver set the home side on their way to a first league win since December.

Alessandro Potenza took advantage of a blunder by defender Maurizio Lanzaro, who completely missed the ball when trying to head away, to secure the points as bottom side Reggina rarely threatened.

Torino 1-0 Udinese

Defender Pablo Dellafiore scrambled in after a corner to give Torino a win that lifts them out of the relegation zone.

Udinese defender Maurizio Domizzi was sent off for dissent in stoppage time.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport