Roma stumbled in their pursuit of a Champions League berth Sunday as they drew 2-2 at Sampdoria in a tense game they closed with 10 men on the pitch, dpa reported.
The Rome side are two points shy of fourth place occupied by Genoa after a 1-0 win clinched Saturday away to 10-man Cagliari, while AC Milan remain third in the Serie A after crushing Siena 5-1 through braces from Filippo Inzaghi and Brazil's Pato.
In Genoa, Brazilian forward Julio Baptista put Roma ahead, but Sampdoria rallied through a brace from Giampaolo Pazzini, who scored his seventh goal in as many games since arriving from Fiorentina in January.
The dismissal of Marco Motta on 61 minutes seemed to hamper Roma's equalizing efforts, which still were rewarded when Julio Baptista netted his second on 70 minutes.
In Siena, Milan closed the first half two goals up with Andrea Pirlo converting a seventh-minute spot kick and veteran Inzaghi on target just before the break.
After the break, the 35-year-old striker notched one more goal for to bring his career tally to 300 goals, while young Brazilian Pato, 19, also scored a brace.
On Saturday, second-place Juventus hammered Bologna 4-1 to move within four points of leaders Inter Milan, who play a late home game with a Fiorentina side lying level with Roma.
In Sunday action, Palermo delighted their home crowd with a 5-2 win over Lecce, who had Simone Tiribocchi twice on target, but found no improvement from the arrival of new coach Luigi De Canio.
Uruguay's Edison Cavani scored twice for the Sicily hosts, while Atalanta's Sergio Floccari also hit twice in a 2-0 win over troubled Torino.
Napoli drew 1-1 at bottom side Reggina in the debut game of their new coach Roberto Donadoni, Udinese and Catania also drew 1-1 and lowly Chievo won 3-0 at Lazio, with Sergio Pellissier scoring a further brace in a goal-rich weekend.