Nine-man Inter Milan moved nine points clear of city rivals AC Milan at the top of Serie A thanks to a 2-0 win at the San Siro.

Diego Milito gave the Nerazzurri the lead in the 10th minute, but they were forced to play over two-thirds of the game with 10 men after Wesley Sneijder was sent off.

Goran Pandev's 65th-minute strike secured the points for Jose Mourinho's side, who lost Lucio to a red card in stoppage time before Ronaldinho saw his penalty saved at the end of a dramatic derby.

Henry Gimenez came off the bench to fire Bologna to a 2-1 home win over Bari.

Paulo Barreto had given the visitors a half-time lead before Gimenez levelled minutes after coming on as a substitute and the Uruguay striker then secured the points in the 72nd minute.

Rodrigo Palacio and Hernan Crespo scored first-half goals as Genoa saw off the challenge of Atalanta for their first win of 2010.

Genoa moved back into contention for a place in Europe as Palacio struck in the eighth minute and Crespo sealed the win three minutes before the break.

Sampdoria enhanced their European hopes as they twice came from behind to win 3-2 away to Udinese.
The hosts went ahead first through Antonio Di Natale's penalty after seven minutes, then again a minute before the break courtesy of Mauricio Isla's strike after Giampaolo Pazzini had levelled from the spot.

But Nicola Pozzi brought Samp back on terms again after 57 minutes and Franco Semioli hit the winner.

Abel Hernandez scored twice in the first half as Palermo enhanced their European chances with a 3-0 win over Fiorentina.

An Igor Budan strike just before the hour mark secured the win for Palermo who maintained their unbeaten home record to move up to fifth in the table.

Serse Cosmi stepped down as coach of Livorno following his team's 2-0 defeat at home to Napoli.

Christian Maggio put Napoli ahead before the interval and Luca Cigarini made sure of the points in stoppage time, moments after Livorno goalkeeper Alfonso De Lucia was sent off.

Lazio's woes continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Chievo. Guglielmo Stendardo opened the scoring for Lazio but Sergio Pellissier equalised in the 77th minute.

Cagliari's Alessandro Matri scored a late penalty as the 10-man visitors grabbed a 1-1 draw at Siena who had taken the lead through Emmanuele Calaio in the 78th minute.