Fiorentina returned to the top of the Serie A table on Sunday with an

emphatic 4-1 victory over Frosinone as Napoli squandered their chance

to grab pole position with a 0-0 draw at Genoa.

Paulo Sousa’s Fiorentina scored all their goals in the first half at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

They replaced Inter Milan who had briefly gone top on Saturday with a

1-0 win over Roma who in turn had led going into the weekend.

Sousa opted to make several changes to his starting XI, resting

leading scorer Nikola Kalinic in order to allow Mati Fernandez to play

behind Khouma Babacar.

Newly-promoted minnows Frosinone handed goalkeeper Massimo Zappino

his top-flight debut, and the Viola ensured he was heavily involved in

the action. 

Yet after making an early save from Babacar, the 34-year-old was

unable to prevent a cross from Ante Rebic bouncing in off the frame of

his goal following a deflection.

If there was some fortune to Fiorentina’s opener, there was little

doubt of the quality of the second as Gonzalo Rodriguez netted with a

sublime back-heeled effort.

Babacar got on the scoresheet with a chipped penalty before Mario Suarez stole the ball and slotted past Zappino with ease.

After the break, Fiorentina understandably eased the pressure on

their mismatched opponents, eventually allowing Frosinone midfielder

Alessandro Frara a late consolation goal.

“I have always said we can compete with anyone and that means we can

compete for the Scudetto,” Sousa told Mediaset Premium after the game. 

“We must always be competitive and I believe our Scudetto must be continually seeking a winning mentality.”

Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli are fourth, two points behind Fiorentina after a frustrating 0-0 draw at Genoa.

Napoli had won their five previous league fixtures, but benched

Lorenzo Insigne following his outburst after being substituted in their

midweek clash with Palermo.

The home side had goalkeeper Mattia Perin to thank as he made some

remarkable saves to keep Napoli at bay, Jose Callejon testing him early

on before Dries Mertens struck the post.

It was a hard-earned point for Genoa, particularly as they lost both

Blerim Dzemaili and Ezequiel Munoz to injury in the first half.

After the restart, Sarri introduced both Insigne and Manolo Gabbiadini in search of a winning goal, but it never came.

“We created many scoring opportunities, it’s just a shame about the result,” a disappointed Sarri told MediaSet Premium.

Sinisa Mihijlovic’s AC Milan notched their third consecutive victory away to Lazio to go into sixth place.

The Rossoneri ran out 3-1 winners at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to

goals from Andrea Bertolacci, Philippe Mexes and Carlos Bacca.

Bologna notched only their third win of the campaign, seeing off

Atalanta 3-0 thanks to goals from Emanuele Giaccherini, Mattia Destro

and Franco Brienza.

On Saturday, Inter downed 10-man Roma 1-0 with Gary Medel scoring the

game’s only goal, meaning they now trail Fiorentina in the table only

by virtue of their inferior goal difference. 

Reigning champions Juventus beat Turin rivals Torino 2-1 thanks to an

injury time winner from on-loan Chelsea winger Juan Cuadrado.