Veteran Quagliarella equals Ronaldo goals as Samp stay in Euro hunt

Fabio Quagliarella joined Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the Serie A scoring charts as his brace took him to 19 goals for the season and kept Sampdoria in a tight race for European football next season.

Veteran striker Quagliarella, 36, has already matched his league tally for last season after striking twice early in the first half to down strugglers SPAL 2-1, who were livid when Sergio Floccari´s second half goal was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee system.

Jasmin Kurtic eventually pulled one back for the hosts deep in injury time but Quagliarella´s goals were enough for the three points.

Thanks to the win Samp move ahead of Atalanta and Fiorentina, who face off later on Sunday, and stay in touch with Torino in the hunt for European football after the "Granata" beat rock-bottom Chievo 3-0 with a 76th goal from Andrea Belotti and two stoppage time strikes from Tomas Rincon and Simone Zaza.

Walter Mazzarri´s Torino are level on 41 points with sixth-placed Lazio, who occupy the last Europa League spot after hammering cross-town rivals Roma in a dominating Rome derby display on Saturday evening.

Victory at the Stadio Olimpico for Lazio, which came thanks to goals from Felipe Caicedo, Ciro Immobile from the spot and Danilo Cataldi, pulled them within six points of fourth-placed Inter, with AC Milan one point further ahead in third after beating Sassuolo earlier on Saturday.

Ignacio Pussetto´s winner 11 minutes from time in a 2-1 win over third-from-bottom Bologna saw Udinese move up to 15th, seven points clear of their opponents on Sunday and the relegation zone.

Bologna are four points from safety after the defeat, only one ahead of Frosinone in 19th, who drew 0-0 at mid-table Genoa.

Carlo Ancelotti´s Napoli host runaway leaders Juventus in Sunday´s late game hoping to close the gap between the pair to 10 points.