Italian Serie A

Inter Milan crushed Torino 4-0 at home yesterday to stretch their lead at the top of Serie A to five points.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic set the champions on their way in 38th minute with a penalty, while Julio Cruz, Luis Jimenez and Ivan Cordoba completed the rout in the second half.

The champions have 37 points from 15 games, while second-placed AS Roma have 32 after being held 1-1 at Livorno.

Daniele De Rossi headed Roma ahead at Livorno in the fifth minute but Diego Tristan danced down the right flank to fire in the equaliser almost immediately.

Third-placed Juventus have 29 points after they beat Atalanta 1-0 at home with a splendid Pavel Nedved shot from outside the box in the 86th.

Udinese consolidated fourth place on 28 points with a 3-2 win over Sampdoria thanks to an Antonio Di Natale strike and two goals from former Samp forward Fabio Quagliarella.

Fabrizio Miccoli and Fabio Simplicio led Palermo to a 2-0 home win over fifth-placed Fiorentina on Saturday. On the same day Lazio won 2-0 at home to Catania to boost morale ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash at Real Madrid.

Empoli moved off the bottom of the table after a 4-1 home win over Cagliari yesterday, with all their goals coming from Nicola Pozzi.

AC Milan's game at Reggina was postponed as the European champions are in Japan for the Club World Cup.