AS Roma trimmed Inter Milan's lead in Serie A when they beat Siena 1-0 on Sunday.

Serbian striker Mirko Vucinic got the winning goal, his first in Serie A for the club since joining at the start of the season, to give second-placed Roma 46 points from 21 games.

Roma are eight points behind Inter, who play Sampdoria in a later match.

Palermo lie third on 39 points despite losing 3-0 to Lazio on Saturday.

Catania drew level with Lazio in fourth on 30 points after their 18-year-old Japanese striker Takayuki Marimoto crowned his Serie A debut by grabbing a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw away to Atalanta.

AC Milan notched up their fourth win in five games when Filippo Inzaghi scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Parma.

After drawing their last two games against Messina and Livorno, Roma desperately needed a win to close the gap on runaway leaders Inter.

Captain and first-choice striker Francesco Totti was suspended but they had their chances to take the lead in the first half at the Olympic Stadium.

Vucinic wasted the best of them when he headed over from close-range in the 17th minute.

Siena came close to going ahead early in the second half when Mario Frick lashed in a volley that home keeper Doni tipped over his bar at full stretch.

Vucinic made up for his earlier mistake just past the hour when he ran on to Francesco Tavano's defence-splitting pass and beat keeper Alex Manninger at his near post.

Siena's hopes of equalising were killed off in stoppage time when Tomas Locatelli was sent off for elbowing Daniele De Rossi in the face.

After a week of excitement surrounding the imminent arrival of Brazilian striker Ronaldo, Milan's players down to earth with a bump as they struggled to beat relegation-threatened Parma.

The six-times European champions dominated but failed to capitalise on a string of chances until the 76th minute, when an Andrea Pirlo free kick bounced through a crowded area to Inzaghi, who pulled the ball down and fired in from close range.

Milan are ninth, but with just three points separating them from Lazio and Catania they are closing in on a place in next season's Champions League.

(China Daily via Reuters January 29, 2007)