Maicon inspires Roma

Brazilian star Maicon inspired Roma's 3-1 win over Udinese on Wednesday which moved them back to the top of Serie A while defending champions Juventus slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo.

Hot on the heels of Roma are Napoli, Fiorentina, and Inter Milan, who beat Bologna 1-0 on Tuesday, with all three clubs just two points behind in the standings.

Maurizio Sarri's Napoli overcame Palermo 2-0 and La Viola were victorious at Verona by the same scoreline.

At the Stadio Olimpico, Roma were two goals up inside 10 minutes, first Miralem Pjanic bagged his fifth goal of the season, tapping in a Maicon cross from close range.

Then the Brazilian full-back doubled the lead after a surging run down the right and toe poke past Orestis Karnezis.

Rudi Garcia's men comfortably controlled the game and Gervinho guarenteed the three points midway through the second half, though Cyril Thereau pulled one back for the visitors with 13 minutes left.

Napoli extended their winning streak to seven matches in all competitions, and have now gone 12 games without defeat.

Gonzalo Higuain got the opener just before half-time, then Dries Mertens sealed the win 10 minutes from the end.

Fiorentina had Nikola Kalinic to thank against Verona.

The 27-year-old Croatian caused Rafael Marquez to put the ball into his own net, before he grabbed his sixth of the season after 57 minutes.

Sassuolo heaped more misery on Juventus as they took all three points at the Mapei Stadium thanks to a magnificent freekick by Nicola Sansone.