Record-breaking Juventus scrape past Parma

Milan: Two goals in seven first-half minutes from Carlos Tevez kept Juventus on course for a third successive Serie A title with a 2-1 win over Parma which ended the away side`s 17-match unbeaten run and set a record of 15 straight home wins in a season.

Argentine Tevez struck in the 25th and 32nd minutes to go back to the top of the Serie A scoring charts with 18 goals and extended Juve`s lead to 14 points after AS Roma had cut the gap to 11 with a last gasp 2-1 win over Torino on Tuesday. Cristian Molinaro pulled a goal back for Parma just after the hour mark but they lost Amauri to a soft-looking red card for apparently elbowing Giorgio Chiellini in an aerial challenge almost immediately afterwards. Defeat for Parma left them in sixth, level on 47 points with fifth-placed Inter Milan, who host Udinese on Thursday. Atalanta are four points behind the pair after a 2-0 win over 18th-placed Livorno, their fifth victory in a row, thanks to goals from Giuseppe De Luca and German Denis. Lazio slipped to eighth with a 2-0 loss at Genoa. Antonio Conte`s Juve moved up to 81 points and stayed 20 ahead of third-placed Napoli, who beat bottom side Catania 4-2 in a thrilling game in Sicily. Rafael Benitez`s team raced into a 4-0 halftime lead thanks to a double from Duvan Zapata, a tap-in from Jose Callejon following a comical defensive mix-up and a stunning volley from Henrique. Napoli are now 10 points ahead of fourth-placed Fiorentina, having lost to Vincenzo Montella`s side in Naples at the weekend, thanks to AC Milan, who relieved the pressure on their under-fire manager Clarence Seedorf with a 2-0 win in Florence. Milan remained in 12th place on 39 points after a 23rd- minute header from Philippe Mexes and a delicate Mario Balotelli free kick just after the hour mark secured their first league win in five games, offering Seedorf a stay of execution after reportedly begin given two matches to save his job. Cagliari were the big winners at the bottom of the table, taking advantage of Livorno`s defeat by beating Hellas Verona 1-0 with a bullet Nene header and moving up to 32 points, eight clear of the drop zone. They are five ahead of Chievo Verona, who inched three points away from from the bottom three with a thumping 3-0 win against fourth-from-bottom Bologna.