Rome - A free kick from Alessandro Del Piero helped Juventus beat Siena 1-0 Sunday to move within four points of Serie A leaders Inter Milan, who Saturday drew 1-1 at home to Cagliari. Inter, on 43 points from 18 games, were far from convincing as they had to come back against the visitors from the island of Sardinia. Juve also played below par, but managed to seize the three points after three weeks of a winter break.
At Turin's Stadio Olimpico, Del Piero netted the only goal of the game after 33 minutes of a fairly slow-paced affair, sending a swerving right-footed shot past Siena goalkeeper Emanuele Manitta.
The veteran captain and Brazil striker Amauri failed to increase Juve's lead, who ran risks for the remainder of the game, not least through efforts from Siena's Frenchmen Houssine Kharja and Abdelkader Ghezzal.
Austrian Alex Manninger continued to keep goal for Juve's long- time injured goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who delayed his return for one more week, and was on hand to block the threats from the Tuscany guests.
Third-placed AC Milan can close to within seven points of Inter if they win away to Roma in a big match late Sunday.
The resumption of the league was bitter for Fiorentina as lowly Lecce stunned them 2-1 at home, keeping the Florence side level in joint-fifth position with Genoa, who beat Torino 3-0 Saturday.
Napoli also seemed to have gained little from the Christmas rest, but managed to edge visiting Catania 1-0 to draw level with Milan through a goal from Christian Maggio.
Palermo beat Bergamo guests Atalanta 3-2 in a sparkling game that saw the Sicily hosts take a two-goal lead and clinch the win through a goal from Uruguay's Edison Cavani.
Udinese and Sampdoria drew 1-1, Lazio won 3-2 at lowly Reggina through a hat-trick from Macedonian Goran Pandev, now level on eight goals with his Argentine teammate Mauro Zarate, who fed him two great assists.
The Serie A's top scorer Marco Di Vaio boasts 13 goals after helping Bologna come back to clinch a 1-1 draw with bottom side Chievo.
