Juventus re-established their four-point lead at the top of Serie A last night with a 3-0 win over Sampdoria, after Inter Milan had earlier trounced Lecce 5-0.

Alessandro Del Piero opened the account for Juve after five minutes, bursting into the penalty area on the right-hand side and beating 'keeper Fabrizio Ferron with a right foot shot to notch his 15th league goal this season. Del Piero's Italy team-mate, Filippo Inzaghi, grabbed the second seven minutes later, volleying home a cross from Antonio Conte from close range. Substitute Daniel Fonseca sealed Juve's win in the 77th minute.

Earlier, Ronaldo silenced his critics with a hat-trick as Inter Milan trounced Lecce 5-0. The Brazilian striker, recently underfire after a near two-month goal drought, started out by scoring one and making another in a pulsating first half-hour.

Ronaldo broke the deadlock after 17 minutes, collecting the ball from Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone and driving home an angled shot for his third goal in four games.

Ten minutes later, he dribbled his way into the penalty area and deftly picked out midfielder Mauro Milanese, who knocked in his first goal for Inter since arriving from Parma. Frenchman Benoit Cauet hit the third shortly before the break.

Ronaldo then converted a 68thminute penalty after Nwankwo Kanu had been fouled in the area, and the Brazilian completed his hat-trick with a 77th minute header.

Elsewhere, Lazio's fine run continued with a 2-0 victory at mid-table Bari.

Yugoslav midfielder Vladimir Jugovic converted a 10th-minute penalty and Giuseppe Favalli sealed the win in the 90th minute to keep his side third in the table, on 41 points.

Udinese stay fourth after coming back for a 1-1 draw with 10man Parma.

Argentine Hernan Crespo scored for Parma in the 32nd but Oliver Bierhoff notched the equaliser in the 80th minute.

As Roma beat Bologna 2-1 at the Olympic stadium, with Roma midfielder Eusebio Di Francesco opening the scoring after only four minutes when he pounced on French defender Vincent Candela's cross.

The early lead was short-lived as Bologna's Russian striker Igor Kolyvanov levelled just four minutes later, but Marco Delvecchio headed the winner for Roma in the closing minutes.

AC Milan's rocky season was boosted as out-of-form striker Patrick Kluivert grabbed two in a 4-1 defeat of Vicenza. Maurizio Ganz and Filippo Maniero scored Milan's other goals.

The Tuscan derby between Fiorentina and Empoli ended up as a 1-1 draw, Napoli lost 1-0 to Atalanta and Piacenza drew 0-0 with Brescia.