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The Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez double act struck again on Sunday with both players scoring to give Juventus a 2-0 win at AC Milan which strengthened their grip on Serie A.
Llorente opened the scoring with his 11th goal of the season and Tevez rifled a spectacular long-range effort in off the underside of the crossbar, making him the championship's topscorer with 15.
Third-placed Napoli once again slipped up against lowly opposition, drawing 1-1 at Livorno after an own goal by goalkeeper Pepe Reina, and fading Fiorentina lost 1-0 at home to Lazio.
Sassuolo substitute Domenico Berardi contrived to get himself sent off after only 48 seconds on the pitch as the Serie A strugglers lost 1-0 to Parma, their fifth straight defeat under coach Alberto Malesani.
Juventus are well on course for their third successive Serie A title after completing the double over Milan, who are a modest 10th.
Antonio Conte's side have 69 points from 26 games, 11 ahead of AS Roma who were held to a goalless draw at home by Inter Milan on Saturday.
Napoli are a further six points back in third.
Clarence Seedorf's Milan dominated the first half at San Siro with Kaka having one shot cleared off the line by Leonardo Bonucci before being denied by a Gianluigi Buffon save.
But Juventus went ahead one minute before halftime when Claudio Marchisio pounced on a mistake and a quick exchange passes led to Llorente scoring from close range.
Tevez made the game safe in the 68th minute when he collected the ball in space, took a couple of strides forward and scored with a powerful rising shot from 25 metres.
"We made the most of our chances, and had a bit of good luck," Buffon told reporters. "I made some good saves which is what I'm there for."
A Dries Mertens penalty gave Napoli the lead at relegation threatened Livorno in the 32nd minute but the hosts levelled before halftime when Reina allowed Ibrahima Mbaye's shot to slip under his body.
"We should have made the game safe," said exasperated Napoli coach Rafael Benitez. "I'm disappointed. We had control of the match in the first half and we should have made the most of it."
A fifth-minute goal by Albania captain Lorik Cana gave Lazio the points at fourth placed Fiorentina, who have won only one of their last six games.
LASHING OUT
Berardi, Sassuolo's leading scorer with 12 goals, came on in the 71st minute, having been dropped, and the 19-year-old was dismissed almost immediately for lashing out at Cristian Molinaro.
Sassuolo, bottom of the table with 17 points, have lost every game since their 4-3 win over AC Milan in mid-January and never recovered after Marco Parolo scored for sixth-placed Parma in the second minute.
Eusebio Di Francesco, who led Sassuolo out of Serie B last season, was fired at the end of January and replaced by Malesani who has lost his first five games in charge.
Berardi was one of four players sent off in Serie A on Sunday.
Bologna had Jonathan Cristaldo dismissed after he was booked twice in a minute although they held on for a goalless draw at Verona and also missed a penalty when Rolando Bianchi's effort was saved by Rafael.
Bostjan Cesar was sent off for two yellow cards as lowly Chievo Verona went down 2-1 at Atalanta while Catania, who are in the relegation zone, had Giuseppe Bellusci sent off in the first half of their 2-0 defeat at Genoa.
Sampdoria won 2-0 at Torino and Cagliari beat Udinese 3-0 in the other games.
Image: Carlos Tevez of Juventus celebrates victory with team-mates at the end of the Serie A match against AC Milan at San Siro Stadium
Photo: Claudio Villa/Getty Images
