AS Roma ended a five-match winless run against arch-rivals Lazio with a 2-0 win on Sunday which maintained their 100 percent record after four games in Serie A.
Federico Balzaretti and Adem Ljajic, from a penalty, scored for Roma while Lazio, last beaten by their neighbours in March 2011, had substitute Andre Dias sent off only three minutes after coming onto the pitch.
Spaniard Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Juventus to give the titleholders a 2-1 win over Verona. Fabrizio Cacciatore put Verona ahead before Carlos Tevez equalised and then saw another effort hit one post, roll along the touchline and hit the other post.
Giuseppe Rossi continued his scoring run with the second goal in Fiorentina's 2-0 win at Atalanta which left them on 10 points, level with Juventus and Inter Milan who won 7-0 at Sassuolo
Diego Milito came on as a second-half substitute for his first appearance following a seven-month injury layoff and scored twice to help unbeaten Inter Milan rout hapless Sassuolo 7-0 away in Serie A on Sunday.
Inter were already leading the Serie A newcomers 4-0 when Milito, 34, came on for his first game since suffering a knee ligament damage in a Europa League match against Cluj in February.
Milito needed only nine minutes to make his mark as he turned in a cross from fellow Argentine Ricky Alvarez in the 63rd minute.
His second goal 20 minutes later was equally straightforward as he tapped in Fredy Guarin's cross from close range after Sassuolo, who have lost all four opening games in an unhappy top flight debut, were again caught on the counter-attack.
Five of the Inter goals came from Argentines with Rodrigo Palacio, Alvarez and Esteban Cambiasso also on target.
Palacio opened the flood gates in the seventh minute when he was left unmarked to tap in Yuto Nagatomo's pass after seven minutes.
Algeria forward Saphir Taider put Inter further head when he snapped up a rebound in the 23rd minute after Palacio's first effort was saved, the 21-year-old's first goal since his move from Bologna in the close season.
Sassuolo's nightmare continued when Raffaele Pucino, making his Serie A debut after replacing the injured Marcello Gazzola after 14 minutes, headed Guarin's cross into his own net just after the half hour.
Alvarez added the fourth in the 53rd minute while Cambiasso scored the best goal of the game when he curled in a 20-metre effort, sandwiched between Milito's goals.
Inter, unbeaten under new coach Walter Mazzarri, have taken 10 points from their opening four games.
Sampdoria twice came from behind in the dying moments to rescue a 2-2 draw at Cagliari while Chievo Verona recovered from an early setback to win their first Serie A game of the season 2-1 at home to Udinese on Saturday.
Livorno missed the chance to catch the league leaders after a battling goalless draw at Genoa left the promoted side sixth, level on seven points with Juventus, Fiorentina and Inter Milan who all play on Sunday when pacesetters Napoli visit AC Milan.
Fabio Liverani's Genoa moved up a place to 13th with four points after a scrappy affair with few chances although the hosts came closest to scoring in when Emanuele Calaio's point-blank header forced an incredible late save by Francesco Bardi.
The last-gasp draw earned by Delio Rossi's Sampdoria thanks to Lorenzo De Silvestri's added-time strike left them fourth from bottom on two points while Cagliari stayed ninth with five.
"It was the right result, but it's still annoying going 2-1 down in that situation," said Rossi.
"I didn't like how we started but... in the second half we changed and our courage was awarded," added the coach, who was sent off for his wild celebrations after De Silvestri equalised.
"I ran over there because I wanted to share in the joy with the lads, I didn't mean to offend anyone."
Chievo leapt out of the bottom three up to 13th place after their win, which put them level with Udinese on four points.
Sampdoria went behind to Albin Ekdal's beautifully worked goal in the 26th minute and had to wait until the 89th minute to equalise when Manolo Gabbiadini's shot squeezed through the arms of distraught Cagliari keeper Michael Agazzi.
Daniele Conti's stunning free kick in the first minute of added time put the hosts back in front but Sampdoria defender De Silvestri netted two minutes later to salvage a point.
The result gives some breathing space to manager Rossi, who has been under extreme pressure after a poor start to the season that saw them thumped 3-0 in the Genoa derby last week.
Chievo gifted a goal to Udinese's Brazilian Maicosuel in the opening minute following a defensive mix-up but hit back with a smart 13th-minute finish by Sergio Pellissier, who raced on to Nicholas Frey's through ball and fired across Ivan Kevala.
A deflected long-range strike from Luca Rigoni in the 40th minute capped off a fine first-half display from Chievo and, although they were under pressure for much of the second period, it proved enough for them to take all three points.
There are two huge clashes on Sunday with second-placed AS Roma looking to maintain their 100 percent start by beating rivals Lazio in the Rome derby (1300 GMT) while Napoli visit Milan (1945) in a match that will test their title credentials.