AS Roma lost 3-1 at Fiorentina today and the third league defeat in 25 matches reduced their Serie A lead to six points.
Italy striker Enrico Chiesa scored two of Fiorentina's goals - the first with a brilliant free kick in the 12th minute and the second with an instinctive volley eight minutes from time.
Roma's French defender Vincent Candela was responsible for the other with a 58th minute own goal after Brazilian Emerson had pulled Fabio Capello's side level at 1-1 with a 30th minute header.
Roma's defeat was their first since they lost 3-2 at AC Milan on January 21st. Their only other loss this season came at Inter Milan earlier in the campaign.
Fiorentina's victory ended a run of 10 league matches without a win, one of the worse spells in the club's history. Their last Serie A triumph was on January 13 when they trounced Milan 4-0.
Roma head Serie A on 58 points to the 52 to Juventus, who won 1-0 at Verona on Sunday.
Saturday's match between third-placed Lazio, on 46, and Parma, fourth on 40, was abandoned because of torrential rain.
The match in Florence marked the return to the Artemio Franchi stadium of Gabriel Batistuta, who joined Roma last June after nine glorious years at Fiorentina.
The Argentine striker was greeted with warm applause before the start from Florentine fans, who unfurled a banner in his honour. It read: "Bati. Thank you for nine years of life."
But the applause turned to whistles from the 35,000-strong crowd every time Batistuta touched the ball and his only real chance came from a 71st minute point-blank header which forced Francesco Toldo to make a superb reaction save.
Fiorentina created the first openings but first Chiesa and then midfielder Marco Rossi made a hash of the kind of chances which Batistuta used to tuck away with unnerving regularity during his time at Florence.
But after 12 minutes midfielder Emiliano Moretti was tripped on the edge of the box and Chiesa sent a fierce, curling free kick into the top right-hand corner of Francesco Antonioli's net.
Marco Delvecchio fired just over the bar with a shot on the turn before Roma equalised, Emerson heading home a Candela corner for his third goal of the season.
But it was Candela who changed the course of the match with his own goal.
Under pressure from Chiesa, the French wing-back planted a diving header passed his own keeper and in off the post.
Roma turned up the pressure but it was Chiesa who struck again, ghosting through the offside trap to fire home his 14th Serie A goal of the season.
"At 1-1 we were playing well, but then we had the own goal, a clearance off the line, then Toldo's save (from Batistuta)," Capello said.
"We've seen our lead cut by three points but I repeat what I said after our defeat at Milan - this is still a very good squad and we can go all the way this year."
Reuters