Serie A leaders Lazio dropped points for just the second time this season in Sunday's 1-1 draw away to struggling Napoli, while AC Milan climbed into the top four with a 2-1 win at Genoa.
Davide Frattesi gave the Romans a deserved lead but Napoli drew level early in the second half through an Alfonso Pedraza own goal.
Napoli were under pressure to deliver a result after defeats by Juventus and Porto saw the squad sent in to a training retreat in a bid to revive their flagging form.
But they could only claim a point against Gennaro Gattuso's unbeaten outfit, whose remarkable form continued as they moved two points clear on top on 29 points, 14 ahead of Napoli in 10th place.
"We must keep going, everything's not lost even if we are behind in the standings," Napoli head coach Massimiliano Allegri told DAZN.
"We are not out of the race for the top four, the Coppa Italia or the Champions League. There are difficult moments over the course of a season, and they must be faced calmly."
The visitors, targeting a seventh league win in a row and fifth consecutive away victory in Naples, started strongly as Gustav Isaksen and Josip Sutalo drew diving saves from Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
The Romans went in front in the 28th minute when Frattesi raced on to Tijjani Noslin's through ball and finished emphatically for his fourth goal of the season.
Lazio's opener sparked a reaction from Napoli as Christos Mandas denied Rasmus Hojlund before halftime substitute Pedraza inadvertently turned a cross into his own net early in the second half.
The hosts came closest to a winner as Scott McTominay tested Mandas with a low shot before Kevin De Bruyne saw a shot charged down by the Greek goalkeeper and the rebound cleared off the line by Reda Belahyane.
MILAN BOUNCE BACK
Milan moved above Como into fourth as Alphadjo Cisse and Christian Pulisic struck in a 2-1 victory.
Ruben Amorim's team finished a mixed week on a high with a second Serie A win on the bounce.
Milan claimed a memorable derby win over rivals Inter Milan last weekend, but inconsistency reared its head again with a 2-0 Europa League loss at home to Ferencvaros on Thursday.
Amorim was left furious by his side's performance in that game but saw a much improved start from his players at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Cisse swept in the opener after 13 minutes for his fifth league goal of the season, before Pulisic took advantage of a defensive mix-up to double their lead six minutes later.
Mikael Ellertsson pulled one back for Genoa late on with a deflected strike from range.
Milan have alternated wins and defeats for the last seven games in all competitions but have 24 points, five fewer than leaders Lazio.
Atalanta ended a six-match winless run in all competitions by beating Monza 1-0 thanks to a Nikola Krstovic strike.
Champions Inter Milan will move one point behind Lazio if they beat Como later on Sunday, before Fiorentina host Juventus.