Juventus held to a goalless draw at Udinese in Serie A

Milan: Juventus were held to a 0-0 draw at Udinese and missed the opportunity to open up a nine-point advantage at the top of Serie A, while Napoli closed the gap on second-placed Roma by beating Chievo Verona 2-1.

Juventus came into the game knowing they could extend their lead following Roma's 1-1 draw against Empoli on Saturday, but struggled and it were Udinese who created the better chances.

Massimiliano Allegri's men came closest when Roberto Pereyra, who is on loan from Udinese, hit the crossbar.

Juventus were seven points ahead of Roma, with Napoli four points further back.

Elsewhere, Lazio and Sampdoria saw their bid for the final Champions League berth halted. The capital side lost 2-1 at relegation-threatened Cesena, while Samp were thrashed 5-1 at Torino with Fabio Quagliarella scoring a hat-trick against his old club to spoil Samuel Eto'o's debut.

Earlier, Inter Milan lost 3-1 at Sassuolo, prompting a row between the visiting fans and two of their players.

Mauricio Pinilla scored a magnificent scissor-kick volley in stoppage time against his old club to help Atalanta beat fellow struggler Cagliari 2-1. Palermo beat Hellas Verona by the same scoreline.

AC host bottom club Parma later. Juventus were looking for their fourth consecutive victory but was hampered by a solid Udinese performance, led by a battling Allan in midfield, who consistently got the better of Paul Pogba.

The defending champion created little of note in the first half but stepped up a gear after the break.

After Pereyra had rattled the crossbar, Carlos Tevez had a great chance to snatch the win late on after he was set up by Pogba, but sent his effort wide of the left post from 12 yards.

Napoli were looking for a third consecutive win and Rafa Benitez's side took the lead in bizarre circumstances in the 18th minute.

Manolo Gabbiadini beat the offside trap to race clear through on goal and Albano Bizzarri rushed out to clear but only succeeded in sending the ball off Bostjan Cesar's face and into the empty net.

Chievo leveled with another own goal seven minutes later when Rafael went to punch a cross but the ball ricocheted off Miguel Angel Britos and Sergio Pellissier and into the back of the net from close range. The league officially called it a Britos own goal.

Napoli scored what was to prove the winner shortly after the hour mark when Gabbiadini controlled Ivan Strinic's cross and rifled it into the bottom left corner for his first goal since joining from Sampdoria.

Cesena had only won two matches this season - both against Parma - but Gregoire Defrela gave his side a shock lead on the hour mark with a stunning 25-yard strike into the top right corner.

Cesena's second was more comical than brilliant as Defrel's cross was turned in by onrushing Lazio midfielder Danilo Cataldi.

Miroslav Klose gave Lazio hope with a volley from outside the area three minutes from time but Cesena clung on to move within four points of safety.

Lazio and Samp remained level on points, five behind Napoli.

The much-travelled Quagliarella had spent a season at Sampdoria and he refused to celebrate when he scored the opener, volleying in after a corner reached him at the far post.

Quagliarella doubled his tally from the spot in the 29th and completed his hat trick in the 65th.

Eto'o came on shortly afterward but had little impact as substitue Amauri and Bruno Peres added to the scoreline, either side of Pedro Obiang's consolation goal for Sampdoria.

Sassuolo had never even scored a goal against Inter and had been thrashed 7-0 in two of their past three meetings.

It was 2-0 up at halftime following brilliant strikes from Simone Zaza and Nicola Sansone.

New Inter signing Xherdan Shaqiri hit the post before Mauro Icardi gave the visitors hope when he pulled one back seven minutes from time but Domenico Berardi sealed the result in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

Young Inter defender Isaac Donkor was shown a second yellow in that incident and dismissed. Sampdoria was also down to 10 men after Sansone was sent off for a foul on Shaqiri.

Trouble continued after the final whistle with Inter players Mauro Icardi and Fredy Guarin getting into a furious row with their own fans who threw their jerseys back at them.