Serie A leaders Palermo racked up their fifth league win in a row when they brushed aside Torino 3-0 on Sunday. Goals by playmaker Eugenio Corini and strikers David Di Michele and Amauri gave the Sicilian side 27 points from 11 matches, three ahead of Inter Milan, who can draw level by beating Parma in a later match (kick-off 1930 GMT).
AS Roma lie third on 23 points after Francesco Totti scored twice in a 2-1 win at AC Milan on Saturday. Palermo's victory equalled the club's best-ever winning run in Serie A, which dates back to the 1961-62 season.
Torino, who have been treading water just above the relegation zone since earning promotion last season, rarely looked capable of causing an upset.
Striker Alessandro Rosina created their best chance of the match aftpinged a right-footed shot off the post, but for most of the game Torino were forced to defend.
Palermo midfielders Fabio Simplicio and Mark Bresciano had gone close to putting their side ahead before Di Michele created the first goal just before halftime.
The Italy international broke down the right and cut the ball across the area for Simplicio to turn smoothly into the path of Corini who swept it into the net.
Di Michele himself scored in the 69th minute when he went through alone on goal and chipped keeper Christian Abbiati.
Di Michele was also involved in Palermo's third goal, providing the defence-splitting pass for Amauri to angle a shot past Abbiati.
"It was a tight match for about 15 minutes. At that stage it could have gone either way, but after that I think we took control," said Palermo coach Francesco Guidolin.
"We played an excellent match today. We showed the solidity that we've been looking for, without giving up some of the other aspects of our game. "We play good, positive football, and we often win away. Twenty-seven points from 11 matches is a great start."
The only dampener for Palermo was an injury to Di Michele, who limped off shortly after setting up Amauri and could miss Italy's friendly against Turkey in Bergamo next Wednesday.