Roma took advantage of Milan’s Intercontinental Cup match against Boca Juniors to go top of Serie A.
Francesco Totti’s penalty in the seventh minute was enough to defeat Modena 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Totti converted the spot kick after being brought down by Jacopo Balestri, although there was some controversy as to whether the foul was committed inside the area.
Roma were content to sit back allowing Moderna to get back into the match, much to the dismay of the home supporters. But Roma held on to get all three points.
Juventus looked to have turned around their poor string of results by thrashing Parma 4-0. Juve showed no signs of fatigue after drubbing AEK 7-0 in the Champions League, with goals from Fabrizio Miccoli (two), Alessandro Del Piero and Pavel Nedved to keep them in third spot.
Inter gained some comfort for their failure to progress into the final 16 of the Champions League by beating Bologna 2-0. The goals scored by Obafemi Martins and Alvaro Recoba keeps them in fourth place.
Lazio left it late to consolidated their fifth spot after winning 1-0 in Ancona. Midfielder Fabio Liverani getting the only goal.
Both Udinese and Sampdoria continue to keep up with the top six after Udinese beat Lecce 1-0 while Sampdoria drew 3-3 away at Perugia.
At the other end of the table Brescia beat fellow strugglers Empoli 2-0, while Reggina drew 0-0 with Chievo.
