Resurgent Ronaldinho [ Images ] netted a hat-trick to help AC Milan [ Images ] hammer 10-man Siena 4-0 on Sunday and close the gap on Serie A leaders Inter Milan [ Images ] to six points.

The title race is now very much on given Inter only drew 2-2 at Bari on Saturday, Milan have a game in hand and the top two meet in the city derby next weekend.

Juventus [ Images ] are out of the running though after a 1-0 defeat at Chievo, their fifth loss in seven games in all competitions. Gennaro Sardo netted for the dominant hosts in the first half but under-pressure Juve coach Ciro Ferrara can blame his terrible injury problems, which meant Michele Paolucci started upfront having been recalled from Siena only on Saturday.

Claudio Ranieri's [ Images ] AS Roma have leapfrogged former club Juve into third, 11 behind Inter, after on-loan striker Luca Toni grabbed his first two goals for the club from close range in a 3-0 home win over Genoa.

Roma travel to Juve next Saturday when a section of Turin's Stadio Olimpico will be closed because home fans continue to chant racist songs about Inter striker Mario Balotelli [ Images ].

Napoli are fourth, a point above fifth-placed Juve, following a lucky 0-0 home draw with Palermo in the "Derby of the South" between two of Italy's [ Images ] best-supported teams.

Palermo's Fabrizio Miccoli had a scuffed penalty saved when he became the latest Serie A player to have a laser shone in his face by fans, while team mate Simplicio missed a near open goal.

REMARKABLE RENAISSANCE

Milan had a poor start to the season under new coach Leonardo but their remarkable renaissance has largely been thanks to Ronaldinho and Marco Borriello, who like Toni could now make a late bid to gatecrash Italy's World Cup squad.

Striker Borriello won a 12th-minute penalty when he was brought down by keeper Gianluca Curci, who was given a straight red card, and Ronaldinho confidently slotted in the spotkick.

Borriello soon volleyed in Andrea Pirlo's cross with his wrong foot to prompt a standing ovation at the San Siro.

Ronaldinho, reborn after recapturing some of the form which made him 2004 and 2005 world player of the year, then nodded in David Beckham's [ Images ] second-half corner and fired in a superb shot which rekindled memories of his glory days at Barcelona [ Images ].

Siena, unlucky to lose 4-3 against Inter last weekend, slipped four adrift at the bottom after relegation rivals Catania drew 1-1 at Sampdoria and Atalanta stunned Lazio 3-0 at home in Bortolo Mutti's first game in charge.

Bologna also boosted their survival hopes with a surprise 2-1 win at faltering Fiorentina while fellow strugglers Udinese managed a 0-0 draw at Parma in a bad-tempered game.