Napoli and Juventus set up blockbuster clash as both win again

Napoli saw off 10-man Carpi at home thanks to a Gonzalo Higuain penalty for a club-record eighth consecutive league win that maintained their two-point lead at the top, while Juve in second made it 14 straight wins as goals from Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala downed Frosinone.

Serie A is starting to look increasingly like a two-horse race as Inter Milan failed to reignite their flickering title hopes with Ivan Perisic scoring a late equaliser to salvage a 3-3 draw at bottom club Hellas Verona. They now appear to be a three-horse battle for third, after Roma defeated Sampdoria 2-1 to edge themselves back into the race for the final Champions League spot.

Inter's draw leaves them fourth on 45 points, 11 behind leaders Napoli and nine adrift of second-place Juventus, with Fiorentina in third on 46 after they drew 1-1 at Bologna on Saturday.

Napoli's fans showed their support for defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who was subjected to racist abuse in the midweek win at Lazio, by wearing masks of the Senegal international, and it was the centre back who won the decisive penalty in the 69th-minute after being fouled by Fabio Daprela.

Higuain converted from the spot for his 24th goal of the season, finally seeing off a resilient Carpi side who had Raffaele Bianco dismissed for a second yellow card in a case of mistaken identity in the 56th minute.

Juve saw off relegation-threatened Frosinone after a 73rd-minute opener from Chelsea loanee Cuadrado and a delicious curling effort from Dybala in the first minute of stoppage time.

Inter's once-watertight defence was breached twice inside the first 16 minutes when Filip Helander and Eros Pisano cancelled out Jeison Murillo's eighth-minute header.

Roberto Mancini's team have kept 13 clean sheets so far this season, but their defence has struggled to convince in the New Year and they were undone twice in the space of four minutes as Helander and Pisano headed home Luca Marrone free kicks.

Artur Ionita diverted a Marrone corner past Samir Handanovic to make it 3-1 in the 57th minute before Inter responded through Mauro Icardi in the 61st.

Perisic then rescued a point in the 78th when his finish was fumbled into the back of the net by Pierluigi Gollini.

"We threw away two points and it could have been worse," Mancini told Sky Sport Italia.

"We will continue to fight and can hopefully put together a run of victories."

Verona, who had not won a Serie A match this season before a midweek victory over Atalanta, extended their unbeaten run to five games but will be distraught at having let a two-goal lead slip. They remained last on 15 points.

In the day's final game, Roma held on to beat struggling Sampdoria 2-1 and move closer to the race for third in the league.

Diego Perotti's first goal for his new club was the difference in the end, the recent signing from Genoa finding the net five minutes into the second half - after Alessandro Florenzi had given the team the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Miralem Pjanic's own goal shortly before the hour-mark then gave the visitors a glimmer of hope but, despite a thrilling finish that saw Sampdoria hit the woodwork, Luciano Spaletti's side held on for their third successive win.

They are now fifth on 44 points, a point behind Inter and just two behind third-placed Fiorentina.

Elsewhere, AC Milan drew 1-1 with Udinese, Sassuolo and Palermo drew 2-2 and Chievo won 2-1 at Torino.