Lazio go top as Juventus fight back at Roma

Lazio took over at the top of Serie A on Sunday after a 3-2 comeback win at Piacenza while rivals Juventus fought back for a 2-2 draw at AS Roma and AC Milan also drew at Empoli.

But just a point separates the top four as Inter Milan ended a three-match winless run in the league with a 4-0 crushing of Brescia with Christian Vieri scoring all four goals.

Cash-strapped Lazio, who are up for sale, lead on 27 points with Milan, Juventus and Inter all following on 26.

Three players were sent off in the final minutes in Rome where Juventus came back from two goals behind to earn a point against Fabio Capello's side who remain stranded in ninth-place, ten points behind the leaders.

Juve's Alessandro Birindelli and Roma's French wing-back Vincent Candela were dismissed three minutes from the end for wild challenges and then two minutes later Roma captain Francesco Totti was red-carded for dissent.

It was an ugly end to what had been an entertaining game.

Totti had put Roma ahead in the 12th minute with a left-foot finish after a superb piece of control and then the Italy international produced a delightful back-heel flick to put Antonio Cassano through and the young striker rounded Gianluigi Buffon to double Roma's advantage in the 44th minute.

But before the break Alessandro Del Piero brought Juve back into the game with a near-post header from a Mauro Camoranesi corner and Marcello Lippi's side set about trying to maintain their unbeaten record in the second half.

Roma 'keeper Francesco Antonioli did well to block from Marco Di Vaio in the 70th minute after a dreadful back-header from Roma's French defender Jonathan Zebina had gifted the Juve striker a free shot.

Five minutes from the end though, Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved grabbed the equaliser with a rasping left-foot drive into the top corner before tempers became frayed.

At the start of the season Juve might have expected Roma to be rivals in the race for the 'scudetto' but instead they must deal with Roberto Mancini's Lazio, battling against a backdrop of a financial crisis at their club, who are turning out to be the real surprise of the season.

The comeback victory at Piacenza maintains their 100 percent away record and the Rome side have not lost since an opening day home defeat to Chievo in September.

HEAVY FOG

In a match played in heavy fog throughout, Piacenza went ahead in the 18th minute with a stunning strike from over 25 metres out from midfielder Enzo Maresca.

Nicola Caccia doubled the advantage for the home side nine minutes later but then Lazio fought back to level terms by the break.

Three minutes before the interval Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone headed in a corner and then his compatriot Claudio Lopez equalised with a close-range effort.

Former Chievo striker Corradi thought he had put Lazio in front in the 67th minute but his effort was ruled out for offside.

But deep into injury time Corradi was left unmarked inside the Piacenza area and confidently headed home to complete the turn-around.

If that was a great team display from Lazio then it was a one-man show at the San Siro with Vieri at his devastating best against struggling Brescia.

Vieri fired Inter ahead in just the third minute with a strong run and powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area.

Ten minutes later he headed in a corner from Turkish midfielder Emre and Vieri completed his hat-trick 12 minutes after the break with a smart back-header after Luigi Di Biagio had lofted the ball into the box.

The Italy international's fourth came six minutes from the end when Hernan Crespo mis-hit a shot and the ball fell kindly to Vieri, possibly in an offside position, who made no mistake from close range.

Milan sparkled in their win against Real Madrid in midweek but were much less impressive against a determined and energetic Empoli.

The lively Tommaso Rocchi opened the scoring in the 42nd minute, outpacing Alessandro Nesta before coolly slotting past Milan's Brazilian 'keeper Dida.

But Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, who scored the winner against Real, was on target again with a well-placed header from a Massimo Ambrosini cross to give Carlo Ancelotti's side a point.

Brazilian Adriano scored twice in Parma's impressive 4-0 win at struggling Torino.