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Inter beat Parma to strengthen grip on Europa League spot

Inter Milan's Fredy Guarin celebrates after scoring a second goal against Parma during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the Tardini stadium in Parma April 19, 2014. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo (Reuters)

By Terry Daley ROME (Reuters) - Inter Milan moved a step closer to qualifying for next season's Europa League with a 2-0 Serie A win over 10-man Parma on Saturday while local rivals AC Milan boosted their chances of European football with their fifth straight victory. Walter Mazzarri's Inter, who secured victory with second-half goals from Rolando and Fredy Guarin after Gabriel Paletta was sent off for the hosts, stay fifth but are on 56 points, five ahead of Parma and AC Milan, who thumped lowly Livorno 3-0. Torino, two points further adrift in eighth, drew 3-3 with Lazio in an incredible match where Ciro Immobile scored his 20th goal of the season to give the away side a late lead only for Lazio's Antonio Candreva to equalise deep into stoppage time. Third-place Napoli drew 1-1 at Udinese with Rafael Benitez's side taking a 39th-minute lead through Jose Callejon's superb volley but Bruno Fernandes slotted home an equaliser 10 minutes after the restart capitalising on a dreadful pass from Napoli keeper Pepe Reina. Roma take on Fiorentina in Florence (1900 GMT) knowing that a win will guarantee them second place and a spot in the Champions League group stage. Portugal international Rolando headed Inter in front three minutes into the second half after Antonio Cassano missed a first-half penalty and Paletta was sent off for a second booking following a needless foul on Rodrigo Palacio. Inter, who dominated after the sending off, sealed a great win with a last-minute strike from Guarin, who scored with an angled drive, shortly after coming on as a substitute.Clarence Seedorf's Milan strolled to victory thanks to a Mario Balotelli header two minutes before the break, Adel Taarabt's first goal at the San Siro six minutes after halftime and Giampaolo Pazzini's first goal since January. Balotelli's goal was his 14th of the season. With sixth place likely to offer a Europa League spot, 10th-place Hellas Verona are still in the running having moved up to 49 points after a 2-1 win at Atalanta in which veteran striker Luca Toni scored his 18th goal of the season. The relegation battle heated up with third from bottom Sassuolo beating Chievo Verona 1-0 thanks to Domenico Berardi's 13th goal of the season to move level on 28 points with Bologna, who take on league leaders Juventus later on Saturday (1630 GMT). Bottom side Catania gave their slim hopes of survival a boost with a 2-1 win over Sampdoria to move to within six points of safety, while Cagliari came from behind to win 2-1 at Genoa to move eight points clear of the drop zone. (Reporting by Terry Daley; editing by Toby Davis)