Inter Milan won 3-0 at Sassuolo to bring an end to the underdogs' recent fairytale run and burst past their provincial hosts into second place in Italy's Serie A.
Champions Juventus remain unbeaten but were surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw at promoted Benevento, while Atalanta were beaten 2-0 at home by Hellas Verona just days after defeating Liverpool at Anfield in the Champions League.
Vlad Chiriches botched a clearance and saw Lautaro Martinez pounce to feed Alexis Sanchez for Inter's early opener and the bad day for the home defender continued when he scored an own goal and exited with a pulled muscle before halftime.
A flawless drive from midfielder Roberto Gagliardini settled the game on the hour as the Nerazzurri leapfrogged Sassuolo on goal difference in the standings.
Inter have the league's best attack on 23 goals from nine games and now sit two points behind leaders AC Milan, who host Fiorentina on Sunday.
"We always try to give our best. Sometimes, things go our way and other times they don't," said Inter coach Antonio Conte, seemingly referring to the 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
At Benevento, Juventus rested their ace Cristiano Ronaldo but took the lead from Alvaro Morata's clinical drive into the far corner but then saw the newcomers level right on halftime through Gaetano Letizia.
Morata missed an easy chance after the break and was red-carded after the final whistle for seemingly insulting the referee.
"When we miss players with experience and personality, we struggle," Juve coach Andrea Pirlo said.
"Ronaldo had a little problem on Wednesday (in a 2-1 Champions League defeat of Ferencvaros) and he preferred to recuperate."
The day's programme closer saw Atalanta stunned 2-0 at home to Verona.
Miguel Veloso converted a second-half penalty awarded for the flooring of Mattia Zaccagni, who then secured victory with a late drive to help the Veronesi leapfrog their Bergamo hosts.
Verona are now sixth, two points behind fifth-placed Juve and one above Atalanta.
All the players in Serie A were wearing a black armband and observed a minute of silence before the games to honour Diego Maradona, who died on Wednesday in Argentina.
Games were briefly interrupted in the 10th minute, with images of the star donning Napoli's number 10 shirt displayed on stadiums' screens and in the stands, which remain empty because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Australian Associated Press
