Inter crush Como to stay in title hunt
Christian Vieri scored twice for Hector Cuper's challengers.
The result moves Inter back to three points behind champions Juve who beat Modena 3-0 on Saturday. Third- placed AC Milan are now eight points behind Juventus after they were held to a scoreless draw at Reggina.
Parma boosted their chances of making a bid for the fourth Champions League spot with an impressive 4-0 win at Chievo.
Roma's poor season continued as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Perugia with Italian international Fabrizo Miccoli on target for Serse Cosmi's side.
Vieri is Serie A's top scorer with 23 goals and could have boosted his total even more against a Como side that looks set for a swift return to Serie B. However, the striker missed a first half penalty and had another goal disallowed in the second half.
Last season's runners-up went ahead in the 14th minute when Javier Zanetti burst into the penalty area and slipped the ball into Gabriel Batistuta's path and the Argentine rounded former Inter keeper Fabrizio Ferron and slipped the ball into the empty net.
Inter doubled their lead with a smart near-post glancing header from Luigi Di Biagio from an Alvaro Recoba corner. Inter's comfort didn't last long however, as Como were awarded a penalty after Okan pulled down Fabio Pecchia inside the area but Francesco Toldo pulled off a fine save to keep out Amoruso's spot kick.
Ten minutes after the break though Inter put the game beyond doubt when Vieri made up for an earlier penalty miss by heading home an inswinging corner from Recoba to make it 3-0.
Vieri then claimed his 23rd of the season, a career best record in Serie A, with another header, this time from a pinpoint Javier Zanetti cross.
Parma now have a real chance of European football next season after goals from Romanian Adrian Mutu, Japan international Hidetoshi Nakata, Frenchman Sabri Lamouchi and Italian Alberto Gilardino helped them crush Chievo.
However, Roma keeper Francesco Antonioli was at fault as the Roman side became the latest big name side to lose to giant killers Perugia. Antonioli came but failed to reach a Ze Maria cross and the in-form Miccoli tapped into the empty net.
In Spain, Celta Vigo stayed in the hunt for a Champions League qualification slot as Eduardo Berizzo struck three minutes from time to give them a 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid.
However, Barcelona's hopes of claiming a European place suffered a further setback as the Catalans turned in one of their worst performances of a wretched domestic season in a goalless draw at struggling Alaves.
Victory for fifth-placed Celta took them to within five points of Valencia, who occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot.
Valencia, the reigning league champions, were looking to re-establish their eight-point cushion above the UEFA Cup slots with victory away to Athletic Bilbao, but an Etxeberria goal for the home side in the 39th minute put paid to those hopes.
Barcelona remain in ninth place on 33 points 13 points behind Valencia, 21 points off the championship pace and just four points above the relegation zone.
The top three teams in Spain all won on Saturday, leaving Real Madrid with a one-point lead. Real won 1-0 at Villarreal with a last-minute goal from Ivan Helguera to stay top with 54 points from 26 games.
Real Sociedad stayed second on 53 with a 2-1 success away to Racing Santander, while Deportivo la Coruña held on to third place two points further back after their 2-0 win at home to Rayo Vallecano.
Those results left Sunday's focus on fourth place and Celta put the pressure on Valencia with their valuable 1-0 win at Atletico.
Barcelona's draw at Alaves was at least enough to preserve the unbeaten record of replacement coach Radomir Antic but there was precious little else to cheer for the Catalans. In The Netherlands Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored both goals as Ajax beat lowly Excelsior 2-1 on Sunday, while Dutch international Pierre van Hooijdonk also struck twice to help Feyenoord come from behind and win 2-1 away to NEC Nijmegen.
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