Roma ran out 4-1 winners at home to Torino and Napoli eased to a comfortable 3-1 victory at Chievo today to keep their faint title hopes alive and maintain some pressure on Serie A leaders Juventus.
In Bologna, Gabriel Barbosa -- the Brazilian striker nicknamed Gabigol -- came off the bench to score his first Serie A goal as lethargic Inter snatched a late 1-0 victory to reclaim fourth place in the standings.
Roma's win keeps them second on 56 points, seven behind Juve and two clear of Napoli, who bounced back from their Champions League defeat by Real Madrid and extended their undefeated league streak to 14 games with the Chievo win.
After Juve's 4-1 victory over Palermo on Friday, the chasing duo knew they had to pick up three points in order to keep any semblance of pressure on the reigning champions.
Both duly obliged, with Roma's irresistible attack establishing a 2-0 lead over Torino inside 20 minutes following Edin Dzeko's low 10th minute strike and Mohamed Salah's sensational volley seven minutes later.
In-form Dzeko could have had his 12th goal in his last eight matches in the 51st minute but fired over after being played in by Emerson, before Leandro Paredes produced a sublime long-range strike in the 63rd minute.
Maxi Lopez added a consolation goal for Torino six minutes from the end before Radja Nainggolan thundered home a long-range effort in the first minute of stoppage-time.
At Chievo, Lorenzo Insigne opened the scoring for Napoli in the 31st minute with a delicious effort, cutting in from the left and curling a right-foot strike into the far corner.
Marek Hamsik then finished from close range after hesitant defending seven minutes before the break with Piotr Zielinski adding a third in the 58th minute when he finished calmly from the edge of the box.
Riccardo Meggiorini pulled a goal back for the hosts but it could not stop Napoli moving up to 54 points in third place.
GABIGOL RESCUES WIN FOR INTER
In Bologna, Inter moved back level with Atalanta on 48 points and above Lazio after Brazilian substitute Gabigol settled a lacklustre contest with an 81st-minute winner.
The 20-year-old entered in the 74th minute and took seven minutes to end his goal drought when he finished calmly after being picked out by Danilo D'Ambrosio's cross.
Before the youngster's intervention, Inter had lacked the ideas and verve that have characterised recent performances under Stefano Pioli and looked set to rue a remarkable miss from Rodrigo Palacio, who fired over from four yards in the 12th minute.
Elsewhere, bottom-club Pescara's decision to reappoint Zdenek Zeman for a second spell in charge prompted an immediate change of fortunes as they ended a 22-game winless streak and picked up their second victory of the season with a 5-0 triumph over Genoa.