ROME: Lazio kept their hopes of Champions League football alive on Sunday after Felipe Caicedo's early brace saw them to a 2-1 win at Sampdoria, while Dries Mertens moved level with Diego Maradona in Napoli's all-time Serie A scoring list after bagging his 81st league strike in their 2-0 win at Frosinone.
Simone Inzaghi's Lazio are in seventh but one of six teams contesting the final two Champions League spots, and they moved to within three points of the top four after an action-packed clash in Genoa which also saw veteran striker Fabio Quagliarella extend his lead at the top of the scoring charts.
Caicedo opened the scoring in the third minute with a smart finish after beating Omar Colley and made it two in 16 minutes later with a deft header from Romulo's cross.
That second goal proved just about enough for the away side, who survived a eventful second half in which Quagliarella crashed home his 23rd league goal of the season, both sides struck the woodwork and Gregoire Defrel somehow missed an open goal when gifted the chance to level with 14 minutes remaining.
The win means that Lazio closed the gap on local rivals Roma, who despite a wildly inconsistent season occupy the final Champions League spot following Saturday's comfortable 3-0 home win over Cagliari, their best display since interim coach Claudio Ranieri took over from sacked Eusebio Di Francesco in March.
They are just four points behind Inter Milan, who drew 1-1 with newly-crowned champions Juventus on Saturday.
Mertens joins Maradona
After the win Ranieri said that he would be "super happy" for Antonio Conte to succeed him amid speculation the club have lined up a three-year contract worth 9.5 million euros ($10.6 million) a season to tempt the former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy manager to the Italian capital.
The 67-year-old later told reporters that he would "pick him up at the airport" if Conte decided to sign for Roma, Ranieri's boyhood club.
AC Milan have the chance to retake fourth later on Sunday when they travel to Torino, themselves five points behind Roma in eighth, while Atalanta, who are level with Milan on 56 points, host struggling Udinese on Monday.
Earlier on Sunday second-placed Napoli closed in on next season's Champions League thanks to Mertens' smart 19th-minute free-kick -- making the Belgian Napoli's joint third-highest Serie A scorer alongside Maradona -- and Amin Younes' simple finish three minutes after the break, which pushed Frosinone to the brink of relegation to Serie B.
Marco Baroni's side are second-from-bottom, 10 points behind 17th-placed Udinese and a further two points away from Genoa in 16th, who drew 1-1 at SPAL in a match that almost guaranteed each side's survival.
"It's an honour to have something in common with the number one player in the world, a symbol of Napoli and of Neapolitaness," Mertens wrote on Instagram, with a picture of him riding on Maradona's back.
With four matches remaining Napoli are eight points clear of third-placed Inter and a full 14 ahead of Milan and Atalanta.
Napoli's recent form has been spotty with only two wins in their last five league matches.
They are 18 points behind Juve and were knocked out by Arsenal in the Europa League quarter-finals, but will be certain of Champions League football next season if both Milan and Atalanta fail to win their respective matches with Torino and Udinese.