Yann Karamoh's first goal for Inter settled their fraught 2-1 victory over nine-man Bologna at San Siro.
The 19-year-old forward, an Ivory Coast-born France Under-21 international, was making his first Serie A start for the Nerazzurri and some of the pressure was lifted from his shoulders when his more experienced team-mate Eder plundered an opener inside two minutes.
Former Inter striker Rodrigo Palacio drew Bologna level in the 25th minute, largely thanks to a mistake by Joao Miranda, but Karamoh restored the hosts' lead after the hour mark, rattling home a stunning drive following a clever one-two with Rafinha.
Bologna's game plan fell apart as defenders Ibrahima Mbaye and Adam Masina were dismissed, but Inter could not find a third goal to further punish the mid-table outfit.
In-form Sampdoria moved closer to breaking into the top five by overcoming lowly Hellas Verona 2-0 at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
After a first half of toil, Edgar Barreto stuck away Gianluca Caprari's cross to open the scoring and, five minutes from time, Fabio Quagliarella made the points safe from the penalty spot.
A last-gasp goal from Diego Laxalt fired Genoa to a 1-0 victory at Chievo that boosted the Rossoblu 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
One minute into second-half stoppage time, Laxalt's first-time swipe at a Gianluca Lapadula pass ensured back-to-back wins for Davide Ballardini's side.
Andrea Belotti got back to goal-scoring ways with the second strike in Torino's 2-0 home win against Udinese.
Nicolas N'Koulou converted Iago Falque's 32nd-minute assist and in the 66th minute Belotti found the back of the net for the first time in four matches when notching at the end of a rapid counter-attack.
In the early match, Sassuolo failed to pick up a first win in six games after being held to a goalless draw by Cagliari.