Mourinho's Inter salvage point to stay clear of rivals

David Beckham set up two goals as Milan eased to an impressive 3-0 win away to Lazio, closing the gap on city rivals Internazionale to six points at the top of Serie A.

Beckham crossed for Brazilian Alexandre Pato to open the scoring at the Olympic Stadium after 42 minutes and two minutes after half-time the former England captain swung in a free-kick from the right which was headed in by Massimo Ambrosini. Kaka, who turned down a move to Manchester City earlier this month, added a third late on as Milan leapfrogged Juventus into second place.

Inter were earlier held to a 1-1 draw at home to Torino. Striker Rolando Bianchi gave the visitors a surprise lead after 47 minutes when he headed in Ignazio Abate's cross. Inter defender Nicolas Burdisso brought Jose Mourinho's team level 11 minutes later and the Argentine defender came close to scoring a winner but was denied by Torino keeper Matteo Sereni. Zlatan Ibrahimovic also almost won it for the leaders but the Swede's header hit the post.

Fourth-placed Genoa had to be patient to beat Palermo 1-0 at home. Palermo goalkeeper Amelia was in inspired form and made a number of good saves. However, there was little he could do when Bosko Jankovic squared the ball across the face of the goal for defender Domenico Criscito to tap into the unguarded net with two minutes remaining.

Roma lost ground in their pursuit of the Champions League qualification places when they drew 2-2 away to bottom-placed Reggina. Bernardo Corradi gave the hosts the lead with a penalty just before half-time, but almost immediately David Pizzaro equalised with a long range drive. The Chilean then gave Roma the lead on 57 minutes, scoring from the rebound after Andrea Campagnolo had saved his penalty. Francesco Cozza earned his side a valuable point with an equaliser on 81 minutes.

In France, midfielder Juninho scored a second-half equaliser for Lyon at home to lowly Saint-Etienne. The 1-1 draw keeps the champions one point clear of Bordeaux at the top of Ligue 1.