Inter moved to the top of the Serie A table with a hard-fought 3-1 victory against a resurgent Cagliari on Saturday night.
Buoyed since the arrival of Diego Lopez as coach and with nine points from the previous four matches, the Sardinians started confidently and it might have been a different story had they taken an early lead, but Samir Handanovic somehow clawed a volley from the unmarked Leonardo Pavoletti away from the goal line.
A change in formation from Inter boss Luciano Spalletti, instructing his team to switch from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-1-1, eased the flow of attacks from the hosts and brought the opening goal against the run of play after 29 minutes. Antonio Candreva's cross was knocked back across goal by Ivan Perisic for Mauro Icardi to tap in.
Marcelo Brozovic doubled the lead early in the second half as Inter closed in on a fifth straight league win at Cagliari.
However, Leonardo Pavoletti reduced the deficit midway through the second half and, with their tails up, Lopez's side once again attacked in waves.
But it was to no avail as Icardi popped up with his 15th goal of the campaign seven minutes from time to restore the two-goal cushion and seal victory.
Earlier in the day, Bologna impressively applied the brakes to Sampdoria's surge up the table by downing the ambitious Blucerchiati 3-0 at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
Samp sit on the limits of the European places after winning five of their six previous matches but Simone Verdi's early goal from a tap-in meant they had work to do if they were to keep on climbing.
Ibrahima M'Baye headed home from a Verdi assist in the 23rd minute to further wound Samp, although Vassilis Torosidis' subsequent dismissal for the home side offered the visitors some hope. It was not to be, though, as Orji Okwonkwo rubber-stamped Bologna's victory in the 73rd minute.
Verona snapped a five-game losing streak by triumphing 2-0 at Sassuolo to win for only the second time this season.
Bruno Zuculini was well-placed to notch after Alessio Cerci's ball into the box caused chaos in the 22nd minute and after the half-hour mark Daniele Verde controlled Romulo's assist to finish coolly.
Visiting defender Thomas Heurtaux's dismissal midway through the second half offered a lifeline to Sassuolo, but the Neroverdi could not take advantage.
Verona's bid to escape the relegation zone received a further boost as promoted SPAL were beaten 2-1 at Chievo, a result that leaves them stuck in 17th place.
The Ferrara outfit went ahead thanks to a Bostjan Cesar own goal from Andrea Lazzari's 17th-minute cross, but Roberto Inglese turned the game in Chievo's favour with a second-half brace.