Udinese, AC Milan and Juventus all notched victories in the Serie A on Sunday.
The league's top three sides resumed after the winter break with wins, with Udinese kicking off the day's action with their 4-1 home triumph over Cesena in the early kick-off.
Francesco Guidolin's side entered the match on the back of a seven-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and they took the lead inside the first minute as striker Antonio Di Natale found the back of the net.
The relegation-threatened Cesena mounted an impressive response though, and they managed to draw level when Brazilian forward Eder scored his first goal of the season.
With the score 1-1 at the half-time break, Ghanaian Kwadwo Asamoah restored Udinese's lead nine minutes into the second half before the match swung in the hosts' favour when Maurizio Lauro received his second yellow card on the hour mark.
Late goals from Serbian defender Dusan Basta and Di Natale added polish to Udinese's victory.
But Udinese remained two points behind both AC Milan - who top the table - and Juventus after they both won.
Goals to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince-Boateng helped Milan to their 2-0 win at Atalanta while Juve also won on the road as Alessandro Matri's first-half strike saw them defeat Lecce 1-0.
A pair of Francesco Totti penalties saw Roma defeat Chievo 2-0, Stevan Jovetic also scored twice as Fiorentina won 3-0 at Novara and Bologna toppled Catania 2-0.
The day's other match saw Cagliari cruise to a 3-0 home success against a 10-man Genoa.