Fiorentina’s hopes of catching Milan were dealt a severe blow on Sunday when they were beaten 3-1 at mid-table Udinese.
Kwadwo Asamoah gave the home side the lead and Gaetano D’Agostino doubled their advantage before Dario Dainelli pulled one back for La Viola, but D’Agostino struck again from the penalty spot to ensure an Udinese win.
Carlo Ancelotti's Milan leapfrogged Juventus with a 5-1 win over Torino as Filippo Inzaghi bagged a hat-trick, Kaka tucked away a penalty and Massimo Ambrosini also scored.
Roma took advantage of Fiorentina's defeat to close the gap with a 3-2 win at home over relegation-embattled Lecce as a Francesco Totti brace and a Matteo Brighi effort bettered Gianni Munari and Dimitrios Papadopoulos goals, while Palermo also climbed the table thanks to a resounding 4-1 victory over struggling Bologna.
Elsewhere, Cagliari beat Napoli 2-0 and bottom side Reggina breathed slim hope into their battle to beat the drop with a 1-0 win at Atalanta, while Catania leapfrogged Sampdoria by beating them 2-0.
Chievo furthered themselves from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win at Siena.