Roma rallied from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 and return to second place in the Serie A table.
The Giallorossi were dislodged from the runners-up by city rivals Lazio on Saturday and looked like suffering again when Stipe Perica fired Udinese ahead in Rome.
But Radja Nainggolan equalised before half-time and Vasilis Torosidis capitalised on a defensive mix-up to grab the winner midway through the second half.
Domenico Berardi's hat trick fired Sassuolo to a 3-2 victory over nine-man AC Milan -- but it included a highly controversial ghost goal.
The Italian forward put Sassuolo in a strong position with two strikes in the first half-hour of the contest, with the first having come after Milan keeper Diego Lopez fumbled his shot before appearing to prevent it crossing the line.
Milan forward Giacomo Bonaventura reduced the arrears in the 33rd minute and then teammate Alex headed in an equaliser early in the second half.
The visitors then lost Bonaventura in the 57th minute for a double booking and Berardi put Sassuolo back in front 12 minutes from time to hand his side their 10th win of the campaign.
Milan ended the game down to nine men after substitute Suso was shown a straight red after a late foul on Sassuolo's Francesco Magnanelli.
Cagliari lost 1-0 at home to Palermo to suffer relegation and have their 11-year run in Serie A come to a painful end.
The hosts went into the game at the Sant' Elia stadium needing not only to win but for 17th-place Atalanta to fall to Genoa.
Atalanta lost 4-1 to Genoa but Cagliari failed to capitalise as Franco Vazquez scored the only goal of the game in the ninth minute.
Despite the defeat, Atalanta had their place in Serie A confirmed for another season.
Torino retain an outside chance of sneaking into the Europa League after dominating Chievo to win 2-0.
The Granata flattered to deceive for 51 minutes, but once Maxi Lopez had notched an overdue opener he was quickly able to convert a brace against a Chievo side who offered very little at the Stadio Olimpico.
With two games of the Serie A season remaining, Torino are four points behind sixth-placed Fiorentina.
Hellas Verona rallied from behind to beat Empoli 2-1 and enhance their chances of finishing in the top half.
Riccardo Saponara fired the surprise package from Tuscany into an early lead, but Vangelis Moras hit back to restore parity heading into half-time.
Midway through the second half Jacopo Sala struck the winning goal that boosted Hellas to within two points of 10th-placed Milan with two games of the Serie A season remaining.