Deulofeu strike stops the rot for AC Milan

Gerard Deulofeu’s first goal for AC Milan boosted the Rossoneri four points clear of Serie A rivals Fiorentina and into a position to pursue European football once again.

The Spanish winger moved to San Siro on loan from Everton in January and has soon found himself performing a key role as a prong in an attacking trident alongside Suso and Carlos Bacca.

It was midfielder Juraj Kucka who scored first in the 2-1 win, with Nikola Kalinic providing a prompt reply for Fiorentina, but Deulofeu’s fine strike at the end of a jinking run clinched a first home triumph in over a month.

Roma remain seven points behind leaders Juventus, who played on Friday, after Edin Dzeko reached 19 league goals for the season during a 4-1 defeat of Torino.

The Bosnian joined Gonzalo Higuain at the top of the Capocannoniere chart after converting Radja Nainggolan’s early assist. Mohamed Salah and Leandro Paredes put Roma out of sight before substitute Maxi Lopez responded, with Nainggolan ending the contest with a thunderbolt at the death.

Napoli remain hot on the capital club’s heels, though, following a 3-1 success at Chievo which saw Lorenzo Insigne, Marek Hamsik and substitute Piotr Zielinski notch before Riccardo Meggiorini provided some late consolation for the Flying Donkeys.

At the other end of the table, returning head coach Zdenek Zeman inspired bottom side Pescara to an unforeseen 5-0 victory over Genoa.

Promoted in May, the Delfini had previously recorded only one win, a triumph not secured on the pitch but a walkover result awarded in their favour when Sassuolo fielded an ineligible player in August.

Sixty-nine-year-old Zeman, who steered Pescara into the top flight back in 2012, showed the board they were right to recall him to succeed Massimo Oddo as the basement boys were 3-0 up inside 31 minutes, thanks to an own goal from Lucas Orban and strikes by Gianluca Caprari and Ahmed Benali.

Caprari, a member of the east coast club’s promotion team under Zeman five years ago, doubled his tally in the 81st minute with Alberto Cerri adding gloss to the scoreline at the death.

Inter Milan’s improvement continues as Gabriel Barbosa’s first goal in a Nerazzurro shirt boosted Stefano Pioli’s men to a 1-0 victory at Bologna.

The Brazilian has struggled to break into the first team since arriving from Santos in the summer but his 81st-minute strike as a subsitute should aid his cause.

Elsewhere, substitute Gregoire Defrel scored twice as Sassuolo pulled clear of the relegation picture with a 2-1 comeback win at Udinese.

French midfielder Seko Fofana had given the Bianconeri the lead after just seven minutes, but his compatriot Defrel clambered out of the dugout to bag a brace inside nine second-half minutes.

Former England and Tottenham defender Sol Campbell, the new assistant manager of Trinidad & Tobago, was in attendance as Sampdoria held Cagliari to a 1-1 draw in Genoa.

Mauricio Isla opened the scoring from an Artur Ionita assist in the sixth minute only for Fabio Quagliarella to split the points with a 22nd-minute equaliser.