Palermo passed up the chance to move within a point Roma in second place after being thumped at home by Lazio.
The Sicilians have produced both the sublime and the ridiculous this term and on Saturday they proved to be no match for Lazio.
Tommaso Rocchi was the architect of Lazio's win as he netted on 44 and 78 minutes to put Palermo on the back foot.
And a goal from Sebastiano Siviglia was sandwiched between Rocchi's brace as Lazio cemented their position in fourth in Serie A.
Udinese survived a late scare to claim a 3-2 win at Torino.
Alberto Malesani's side are chasing a place in the UEFA Champions League and they boosted their hopes with what was ultimately a hard-fought success.
Udinese seemed set for a comfortable three points after racing into a three-goal lead thanks to goals from Christian Obodo, Vitor Barreto and Asamoah Gyan.
However, Elvis Abbruscato netted twice in the final 17 minutes for Torino, but they were unable to grab a leveller as Udinese held on.