Roma stormed to the top of Serie A thanks to three goals in five minutes against last season surprise package, Chievo.
Francesco Totti opened the scoring in the 67th minute with Alessandro Mancini adding another three minutes later. Antonio Cassano completed the rout on 72 minutes.
The result left Roma coach Fabio Capello delighted.
“In the first-half we suffered a lot of pressure from Chievo,’ said Capello. ‘But in the second-half when their rhythm fell, we saw a really big Roma.”
Milan beat Empoli 1-0 with Brazilian youngster Kaka scoring the decisive goal.
Last season’s champions Juventus suffered their third defeat in a week after going down 2-0 against Lazio.
Goals coming from Bernardo Corradi in the 21st minute and Stefano Fiore in the 48th.
Inter and Parma both kept up the pressure on Milan and Juventus. Christian Vieri scored twice in Inter’s 2-1 win against Perugia, with Giovanna Tedesco grabbing a late consolation.
Inter coach Alberto Zaccheroni was glad to get the three points.
“We played very well in the first half,’ stated the Inter boss. ‘After the restart we gave away too much space to our opponents. We had a few problems in midfield and I had to change two players. But I feel the team deserved the victory.’
Parma also won 2-1 by beating Lecce with Italian forward Alberto Gilardino getting both goals.
At the other end, bottom of the table Ancona lost 3-2 to Bologna.
Elsewhere, Moderna drew with Brescia, 1-1, Sampdoria beat Siena 2-1 and Udinese won 1-0 at home against Reggina.
