(AFP) - Lecce breathed a sigh of relief and denied Atalanta from catching up with Milan, the defending champion, to second place when it beat it 2-1 on Wednesday in the fourteenth stage of the Italian Football Championship .
Lecce hit hard at the start of the match and scored two goals within three minutes via Federico Basqueroto (27) and Federico Di Francesco (29), before Colombian international Duvan Sabata reduced the deficit five minutes before the end of the first half (40).
It is the second victory for Lecce this season and the first in its last seven matches after three draws and similar defeats, raising its score to 12 points and climbing to the sixteenth place at the expense of Spezia (10 points), which tied with its guest Udinese 1-1 on Tuesday in the opening stage.
On the other hand, Atalanta suffered its second successive loss after falling to leaders Napoli 1-2 in the last stage, and the third this season and in its last four matches after it suffered its first loss against its guest Lazio 0-2 in the eleventh stage.
Atalanta failed to take advantage of Milan's second stumbling (30 points) against its host Cremonese, 0-0, on Tuesday, so its score froze at 27 points and fell to fifth place, on goal difference, behind Inter Milan, who beat Bologna 6-1 at home.
Atalanta threatened to drop to sixth place if Juventus (25 points) defeated its last-place host Hellas Verona (5 points) on Thursday at the end of the stage.
Inter returned to the winning streak, which stopped at four in a row, by losing to Juventus 0-2 in the last stage, when it stopped a series of three consecutive victories for its guest, Bologna, and inflicted its sixth loss this season when it beat it 6-1.
Bologna was the first to score through Greek defender Charalambos Likoyannis (22), but Inter responded with three goals, which were alternately scored by Bosnian Edin Dzeko (26), Federico Dimarco (36) and Argentine Lautaro Martinis (42).
Inter strengthened its lead with three more goals in the second half, scored by Dimarco (48), Turkish Hakan Calhanoglu (59), and German substitute Robin Gouzens (76).
Coach Simone Inzaghi's men temporarily joined Lazio IV, which concludes the stage Thursday by facing its guest Monza, while Bologna's balance was frozen at 16 points in the center.
Roma lost three valuable points by drawing 1-1 at Sassuolo.
Roma was on its way to regain the tone of victories and third place, albeit temporarily, from its neighbor Lazio, who defeated it 0-1 in the last stage, when it advanced with a goal to its English striker Tammy Abraham in the 80th minute.
But the joy of Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho's men lasted only five minutes, as the home side equalized through Andrea Pinamonte (85).
Rome temporarily dissolved the fifth-place partnership with Juventus, after raising its score to 26 points, compared to 25 for the “old lady” team, while Sassuolo raised its score to 16 points in thirteenth place.
Fiorentina continued its revival and achieved its third victory in a row, when it narrowly defeated its guest, Salernitana, 2-1.
Fiorentina settled the first half with an early goal scored by Jacomo Bonaventure in the 15th minute, but Salernitana equalized at the beginning of the second through Senegalese Boulay Dia (55), before Serbian international Luka Jovic snatched the winning goal in the 82nd minute.
Fiorentina rose to tenth place with 19 points, two points ahead of Salernitana, who fell to eleventh place.
Turin took advantage of the loss of Salernitana and rose to ninth place by defeating its guest Sampdoria with two clean goals scored by Serbian Nemanja Radonjic (29) and Croatian Nikola Vlajic (59).
On the other hand, Sampdoria suffered its tenth loss this season, so it remained in the penultimate nineteenth place with six points.