Milan: Roma got back to winning ways as the capital side beat relegation-threatened Cagliari 2-1 to cut the gap to Serie A leader Juventus to seven points on Sunday.
Adem Ljajic and Leandro Paredes scored to help end a run of four consecutive league draws for Roma, who had also been dumped out of the Italian Cup by Fiorentina in midweek.
Paul-Jose M'Poku headed in a consolation goal in stoppage time.
Roma will still be looking nervously over its shoulder after Napoli beat Udinese 3-1 - with Cyril Thereau scoring for both sides - to remain four points behind in third.
With Lazio playing Genoa on Monday, Fiorentina moved into fourth with a 3-2 victory over Atalanta. Sampdoria is level on points after it was held 1-1 at home by Sassuolo.
Elswehere, Empoli beat Cesena 2-0 in a relegation battle, while Parma's match against Chievo Verona was called off due to snow and has been rescheduled for Wednesday.
Inter Milan host Palermo later on Sunday.
With Juventus beating AC Milan 3-1 on Saturday, Roma knew they needed a win to keep their fading title hopes alive.
Rudi Garcia had a selection headache with several players out through injury or still at the African Cup of Nations. Teenage forward Daniele Verde was given his first start with 20 years separating him and his partner in attack - Francesco Totti.
Verde impressed and set up both goals. He provided a sublime chipped pass for Ljajic to open the scoring in the 37th minute.
It was also Verde's cross from the left that saw Paredes seal the match with his first goal in Italy, volleying into the far bottom corner from the edge of the area.
M'Poku also scored his first goal, on his debut, with a towering header from Danilo Avelar's cross.
Napoli remained hot on Roma's heels following a sixth successive victory in all competitions.
Dries Mertens got Napoli off to a perfect start with a fine solo effort in the eighth minute, surging forward and combining with Gonzalo Higuain before taking advantage of a ricochet to fire his side in front.
Manolo Gabbiadini doubled Napoli's lead in the 22nd, running on to a delightful through ball from Marek Hamsik and slotting into the bottom left corner for his second goal since joining from Sampdoria last month.
Udinese thought they had got back into it with a stunning Allan curled effort but Rafael did well to fingertip it onto the bar.
Rafael was at fault moments later as he rushed out of his area but completely mistimed his intervention as Thereau ran onto Allan's pass and flicked the ball over the stranded goalkeeper and into the empty net.
Thereau also scored at the other end just before the hour mark as he turned Mertens' free kick from the right flank into his own net.
Sassuolo were likely to struggle for goals against Sampdoria after a red card for Nicola Sansone in last week's victory over Inter and bookings for Simone Zaza and Domenico Berardi meant that all three forwards were suspended.
However, they took the lead with less than two minutes on the clock when Francesco Acerbi was left unmarked to head home Sime Vrsaljko's cross from the right.
Samp leveled with a similar goal seven minutes later, with Eder heading in Roberto Soriano's cross.
Massimo Maccarone and Franco Signorelli helped Empoli to a potentially crucial victory.
Empoli moved five points off the drop zone with its first win in 10 league matches. Cesena, who had won their two previous matches to give they hope of avoiding the drop, remained four points off safety.
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