A hat trick moved Ciro Immobile within three goals of overtaking Gonzalo Higuain’s single-season record for Serie A with two matches remaining.
Immobile netted two penalties and also scored a magnificent strike in Lazio’s 5-1 win at Hellas Verona on Sunday. He now has 34 goals in 34 matches — three more than Cristiano Ronaldo atop the Italian league’s scoring chart.
Higuain scored 36 for Napoli in 2015-16.
Immobile’s second goal of the night was a thing of beauty: Set up by Jordan Lukaku on the left flank, he curled a shot into the far top corner.
Lazio moved level on points with third-place Atalanta, one point behind Inter Milan.
Elsewhere, Roma increased its grip on fifth place by beating Fiorentina 2-1 with two penalties from Jordan Veretout.
Udinese won 1-0 at Cagliari and secured a 26th straight season in the top flight.
Lecce remained in the relegation zone after conceding a stoppage-time decider from Musa Barrow in a 3-2 loss at Bologna.
Also, Torino was held 1-1 at already-relegated SPAL.