Rebel Balotelli keeps Inter ahead as top three win in Serie A

Mario Balotelli has ordered a life-sized statue of himself to keep in his Brescia home. The Milan striker, who was on Tuesday fined €10,000 (£8,600) for making an "insulting gesture" towards Internazionale supporters at the end of the derby on Sunday, has contacted a local artist to make the statue, in order to "immortalize" himself.

Lazio earned a hard-fought 1-0 win at Palermo on Sunday to open up a four-point lead at the top of Serie A ahead of next weekend's Rome derby.Brazilian centre-back Andre Dias scored the only goal of the game with a somewhat fortunate volley to condemn the lacklustre Sicilians to defeat and dent their own Champions League aspirations.Lazio lead champions Inter Milan by four points with AC Milan a single point further back in third.Inter won 1-0 at Genoa on Friday night while Milan were downed 2-1 at home by fourth-placed Juventus on Saturday.

Inter Milan's title charge gained momentum on Saturday as the champions squeezed past Cagliari 1-0 to close the gap on leaders AC Milan.Inter's bitter city rivals can push their lead over their neighbours back out to five points with victory on Sunday at Chievo but the nerazzurri's ninth win in 11 league games ensured they kept up the pressure ahead of their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday.Centre-back Andrea Ranocchia scored the only goal of the game in contentious manner as he appeared to be offside.

Inter Milan came from behind to beat relegation-threatened Atalanta 3-1 at the San Siro on Saturday to leapfrog AS Roma at the top of the Serie A table.Goals from Diego Milito, Kenya midfielder McDonald Mariga and Cristian Chivu saw the champions claim three vital points in the title race after Simone Tiribocchi's opener for the visitors.In the day's late game, Palermo ended AC Milan's title hopes with a 3-1 success in Sicily.

Palermo stunned AC Milan 1-0 on Saturday to end a run of five straight defeats and blow the Serie A title race wide open.Romania centre-back Dorin Goian was the unlikely hero, scoring the only goal of a game that could result in Milan's lead being cut.The rossoneri came into the game five points clear of champions and city rivals Inter Milan, who play Lecce on Sunday, while Napoli could also reduce the arrears to three points if they beat Cagliari.Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted that his team missed suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini revealed on Friday that he expects to sign Italian striker Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan within the next 24 hours.Reports in England claimed Balotelli was flying to Manchester to have a medical with the Premier League club on Friday and Mancini confirmed that a deal should be done soon after City agreed a fee for the young star."We are close with Balotelli. Hopefully today or tomorrow. Mario is on his way here today," Mancini said at a press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener at Tottenham.

Inter Milan got back to winning ways in Serie A on Saturday with a convincing 3-1 win over Bologna at the Dall'Ara stadium extending their lead at the top to eight points ahead of Sunday's games.The Italian champions' 10th win from 13 games this season will undoubtedly instill confidence ahead of their important Champions League match at Barcelona on Tuesday.

AC Milan face a tough trip away to fellow Champions League second round qualifiers Fiorentina on Saturday as they bid to keep pace with leaders Inter Milan ahead of the Christmas break in Serie A.Inter, who host struggling Lazio on Sunday, lead Milan by five points with Juventus a further point back in third.But following last week's shock 2-0 defeat at home to Palermo, the pressure is on Milan to avoid a morale-sapping gap opening up ahead of the New Year.