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Miralem Pjanic fired reigning champions Juventus four points clear at the top of the Serie A table with a late free kick at Chievo. The Bianconeri led through Mario Mandzukic's second-half opener until substitute Sergio Pellissier beat Gianluigi Buffon, who was making his 600th Serie A appearance, from the penalty spot. Pjanic made it 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining, ensuring Roma can only close to within four points of the leaders if they trump Bologna later on Sunday night. Substitute Gianluca Lapadula grabbed his maiden AC Milan goal to earn the Rossoneri all three points from their trip to Palermo. His 27 goals helped Pescara achieve promotion to the top flight last season but the Turin-born striker has struggled to make an impact for his new employers at San Siro. After Suso gave Milan the lead in Sicily, Ilija Nestorovski set struggling Palermo on a path to their first point in five games, only for Lapadula to clinch a 2-1 triumph for his Scudetto-chasing club. Inter Milan's as-yet-unnamed new head coach caught a glimpse of the size of the task awaiting him as the Nerazzurri struggled to put away basement boys Crotone. The San Siro club will reveal the identity of Frank de Boer's successor in the next couple of days - with Stefano Pioli currently the favourite - and the board's pick has plenty to do to revive a title bid. With time running out, Ivan Perisic broke the deadlock before Mauro Icardi grabbed a last-gasp brace to determine a 3-0 home victory. Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick as Roma kept in touch with leaders Juventus by beating Bologna 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Juve's earlier victory had pushed them seven points clear of the capital side, but free-scoring Roma made sure to advance their determined chase of the Scudetto with another impressive home win. Salah's lucky opener punctuated a frustrating first half while his brace after the break was convincing. While the Giallorossi claimed a sixth victory from six at the Olimpico, Bologna are winless in seven. Luis Muriel earned Sampdoria their share of the points from a 1-1 at Fiorentina. La Viola had hoped to use the home match against struggling opponents to relaunch their bid for European football and Federico Bernardeschi put them on the right track in the 37th minute. The young Italy striker drove the ball into the box from the wing, fooling both his team-mate Davide Astori and Samp goalkeeper Christian Puggioni as it bounced inside the far post. Three minutes before the hour mark Samp levelled. Muriel raced forward to meet Vasco Regini's defence-splitting pass and managed to get his head to the ball before his marker could intervene. Atalanta maintained their fine form and extended their winning run to four matches in Serie A with a 3-0 victory at Sassuolo. Argentinian striker Alejandro Gomez opened the scoring with his third goal of the season, while defenders Mattia Caldara and Andrea Conti were also on target for Gian Piero Gasperini's side before half-time. Lucas Ocampos' first-half equaliser ensured Genoa remain unbeaten at home in Serie A this season after a 1-1 draw with Udinese. Argentinian midfielder Ocampos scored his first goal of the season in the 24th minute to cancel out Cyril Thereau's early opener for the visitors. Massimo Maccarone's double helped Empoli to an emphatic 4-0 win at Pescara and their first success on the road in Serie A this season. The veteran former Middlesbrough striker Maccarone scored twice in the first half either side of setting up Manuel Pucciarelli for Empoli's second and Riccardo Saponara added a fourth in the closing stages.
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