Italian Serie A:Goals in the second half yesterday from Marco Materazzi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Messina gave leaders Inter Milan a club record ninth consecutive league win and put them 10 points ahead before second-placed Roma cut the lead back to seven points by defeating third placed Palermo 4-0 last night.
Inter's Materazzi netted with a spectacular overhead kick early in the second half and Ibrahimovic doubled their advantage just before the hour mark after good work on the wing by Maicon.
Amantino Mancini put Roma on their way on the stroke of half-time against Palermo and in the 56th minute Francesco Totti scored from the penalty spot before Mancini put the result beyond doubt with his second after 83 minutes.
To rub salt into the Palermo wounds, Giuseppe Biava then put through his own net on the final whistle.
Cristiano Lucarelli netted the equaliser for the home side Livorno against Lazio midway through the second half yesterday when he converted Giovanni Pasquale's left wing cross. Lazio had opened the scoring after 25 minutes through Goran Pandev but their task of holding on was hampered by Tomasso Rocchi's dismissal on the hour for a bad tackle from behind. The heated match also brought eight bookings.
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