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Maurizio Sarri's men confidently responded to the sight of their title bid slipping away by piling on three goals in the space of 11 second-half minutes, taking full advantage of Juve's surprise 1-1 draw at Crotone.

Raul Albiol cancelled out a Svante Ingelsson strike that had put the struggling visitor ahead for a second time, before Arkadiusz Milik - starting in place of Dries Mertens - and Lorenzo Tonelli combined to ease the nerves which had mounted over an underwhelming opening hour.

The Partenopei had earlier been fortunate to reach the interval with scores level, Lorenzo Insigne striking in the second minute of added time to cancel out Jakub Jankto's 41st-minute opener.

It was far from a straightforward night from there, but the 57th-minute introduction of Mertens sparked the barrage that means Sarri's side is now back to within four points of the champion, a deficit it can further reduce in a pivotal encounter at Allianz Stadium.

Udinese almost set up a grandstand finish with just over five minutes remaining, but Stipe Perica headed against the crossbar as their Serie A losing streak stretched to 10 matches, Napoli's instead banking what they hope will be the first of two victories over teams wearing black and white in the space of five days.