ROME — Surging Fiorentina thrust itself into the race for the Champions League places with a 4-1 win over 10-man Atalanta Sunday, while second-place Inter Milan needed a late own goal to draw 2-2 at home with Cagliari in the Italian league. Alberto Aquilani scored twice and set up another goal, and Gonzalo Rodriguez and Luca Toni also found the net as Fiorentina won its fifth straight match and extended its unbeaten run to seven. In Milan, Rodrigo Palacio put Inter ahead after 10 minutes but homegrown striker Marco Sau scored twice to push Cagliari in front before defender Davide Astori redirected a cross from Inter midfielder Ricardo Alvarez into his own net in the 82nd. Inter is four points behind league leader Juventus, which was held to a 0-0 draw by Lazio Saturday. Fiorentina is tied with Napoli one point further back. The top two finishers in Serie A qualify directly for the Champions League, while the third-place finisher enters the final round of playoffs. Elsewhere Sunday, there were numerous players and coaches sent off. Ten-man Bologna beat eight-man Palermo 3-0 in a match in which four players were sent off. Alberto Gilardino opened the scoring for Bologna, Manolo Gabbiadini doubled the lead and Alessandro Diamanti sealed the win with a penalty in the 53rd. Also, Siena beat nine-man Pescara 1-0 with a 31st-minute goal from Francesco Valiani, with Ante Vukusic missing a penalty for Pescara and Siena coach Serse Cosmi sent off; and Catania beat Chievo Verona 2-1 with a double from Sergio Almiron. Antonio Di Natale scored his eighth goal of the season for Udinese, but Raffaele Palladino equalized for Parma in the 89th for a 2-2 draw. On Saturday, Juventus dominated but was held to 0-0 by Lazio, just three days before its key Champions League match against Chelsea. Fiorentina, which beat AC Milan last weekend, went ahead with a shot from center back Rodriguez that went in off the crossbar in the fifth. After Giacomo Bonaventura equalized for Atalanta with a goal that was clearly offside in the 32nd, Aquilani restored Fiorentina's lead in the 42nd with a curving free kick over Atalanta's wall. Atalanta's Luca Cigarini was given a debatable red card for a last-man foul on Juan Cuadrado in the 41st and Aquilani scored again shortly before halftime with a backheel, then provided the cross for Toni's header in the 49th. — Agencies
