Napoli have put the pressure on their rivals for Italy's final Champions League spot, winning on Tuesday to take at least a temporary lead over Udinese, Inter Milan and Lazio. They also took a permanent lead over AS Roma, who played themselves out of the race for third on Tuesday.
Chievo Verona 0-0 Roma
Pretty, passing football is fantastic, but it's generally a good idea to have a Plan B. There was torrential rain in Verona on Tuesday, causing puddles to form on the pitch at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi. That suited the direct, physical Flying Donkeys just fine as they earned a 0-0 draw to kill Roma's chances of qualifying for the Champions League. The Giallorossi have now failed to win in four straight matches.
Napoli 2-0 Palermo
It's been a bad season for Palermo, but Walter Mazzarri is probably unsympathetic to their plight today. Napoli opened the scoring with an Edinson Cavani penalty in the 16th minute, given to them after Milan Milanovic blocked a Goran Pandev cross with his hand. Marek Hamsik scored the second in the 35th minute with a nice bit of skill, taking a pass from Pandev off his chest before placing the ball past Emiliano Viviano. The second half was considerably less eventful.