Paulo Dybala scored twice as Juventus closed in on a fifth successive Serie A title with a 3-0 win against 10-man Lazio.
Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring for Juventus with his third goal in four matches by redirecting a cross within the box from Paul Pogba near the end of the first half.
Then after the Lazio right-back Patric was sent off as a result of his second yellow card, Dybala converted a penalty and finished off a counterattack for his 16th goal of the season.
With four matches remaining, Juventus restored their nine-point lead over Napoli, who routed Bologna 6-0 on Tuesday.
It was the first defeat for the new Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi, who won his first two matches in charge.
The night’s theatrics were provided by 39-year-old Francesco Totti, who came off the bench to score two late goals in Roma’s 3-2 win against Torino.
Totti struck a difficult equaliser just seconds after coming on late in the second half, and then converted a penalty for the winner, a performance that will surely spark more heated discussion over his disputed future with the only club for whom he has played. Totti’s contract is due to expire at the end of the season and he apparently has not yet been offered an extension.
The victory moved third-place Roma back to within five points of Napoli and opened up a seven-point lead over Internazionale in the race for the final Champions League spot. Inter were beaten 1-0 at Genoa.
Andrea Belotti had given Torino the lead with a penalty after being held by Kostas Manolas and the Greece international redeemed himself by equalising in the 65th, rising above a crowd of players to meet a corner with a header.
Josef Martínez seemed to have scored the winner for Torino after being left unmarked by Maicon to redirect in a cross at the far post but Totti then came on and turned the match around.
In Genoa, Sebastian De Maio scored the only goal in the 77th minute, firing in at the far post to conclude a clever move that included headed passes from Ezequiel Muñoz and Panagiotis Tachtsidis.
Fiorentina’s troubles in the second half of the season continued in a 2-1 defeat at Udinese, who took an early lead through Duván Zapata and won it with a goal from Cyril Théréau after Mauro Zárate’s equaliser.
Elsewhere Chievo Verona defeated Frosinone 5-1, Empoli edged out Hellas Verona 1-0, and Palermo and Atalanta drew 2-2.
Sassuolo were held to a 0-0 draw by 10-man Sampdoria after failing to convert a late penalty. The Sampdoria goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano leapt to his left to stop Domenico Berardi’s low spot-kick one minute from the end. Viviano also made several other impressive saves after the defender Andrea Ranocchia was sent off with two yellow cards midway through the first half.
On Thursday, the new Milan coach Cristian Brocchi aims to make it two wins from two matches as the Rossoneri host relegation-threatened Carpi.
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