Inter wins to restore its lead

BEIJING, April 8 -- Teenager Mario Balotelli scored his first goal in Serie A on Sunday and Inter Milan restored its four-point lead in the title race with a 2-0 victory over Atalanta.

Balotelli scored in the 74th after Patrick Vieira had put Inter ahead with a goal in the 21st.

On Saturday, second-place AS Roma beat Genoa 3-2.

Inter has 72 points, Roma 68 and Juventus, which lost to Palermo 3-2, has 58.

Roma had made up seven points in the standings in the last seven rounds to stay in the race for the league title. Inter, undefeated in the league until a month ago, has been unable to shrug off a series of injuries and a surging Roma.

"This doesn't depend on Roma, it depends on us," said Inter coach Roberto Mancini. "If we win they can't catch us. You can win the championship by one point, two or three and right now we are ahead by four."

With striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic out nursing a sore knee, Mancini turned to 18-year-old Balotelli to replace the Sweden international who is fourth in Serie A with 15 goals.

Also on Sunday, Amauri and Alessandro Del Piero each scored twice as Palermo edged Juventus 3-2. The goals gave both strikers 13 on the season.

Elsewhere, it was: Parma 2, Lazio 2; Siena 1, Udinese 1; and Torino 0, Empoli 1.

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)