Juventus' Serie A title rivals were handed a Scudetto lifeline by Udinese on Sunday afternoon as the leaders were held to a 1-1 draw at the Dacia Arena.
Napoli's 2-1 victory at second-placed Roma a day earlier had kept their hopes of catching Juve alive while damaging those of the Giallorossi, but the champions' first draw of the season leaves the race open.
Udinese took the lead through Duvan Zapata in the 37th minute, with defender Leonardo Bonucci rescuing a point with a headed goal on the hour mark.
The Italy international might have added a matchwinning assist but Gonzalo Higuain could not turn home his clever pass in stoppage time.
With 11 games of the league campaign remaining, Roma trail Juve by eight points with third-placed Napoli two further points shy, but five clear of surprise package Atalanta.
Gian Piero Gasperini's ambitious Nerazzurri saw their latest winning run come to an end as Fiorentina ground out a goalless draw in Bergamo in Sunday's lunchtime kickoff.
Accompanying Atalanta in the Europa League spots are Inter Milan, whose recent upturn in fortunes continued with a 5-1 demolition of Cagliari at the Stadio Sant'Elia.
Ivan Perisic scored either side of the break in Sardinia, with Ever Banega and Roberto Gagliardini finding rare goals while Mauro Icardi reached 17 for the season with a 67th-minute penalty.
Marco Borriello had notched for Cagliari, who are safe from relegation danger in 13th place.
It is a different story for Palermo, however. The Sicilians are seven points off 17th-placed Empoli and safety and needed a positive result from their trip to Torino.
Diego Lopez's men started well as Andrea Rispoli gave them the lead on the half-hour mark. They had not reckoned with Andrea Belotti, though, and a second-half hat trick recorded inside eight minutes boosted the in-demand striker onto 22 goals for the season while settling a 3-1 home win.
To add insult to injury, the Rosanero lost Hungarian forward Norbert Balogh to a late red card.
Palermo's future may look bleak but Empoli are still there to be caught after going down 2-0 at home to fellow strugglers Genoa thanks to last-gasp goals from Olivier Ntcham and Oscar Hiljemark.
It was a first victory for new Genoa boss Andrea Mandorlini, who replaced Ivan Juric last month.
Elsewhere, Crotone picked up a valuable point from a goalless draw with Sassuolo at the Stadio Enzo Scida.
In the late game, Lazio maintained their push for Champions League football as Ciro Immobile scored twice in a 2-0 victory at Bologna.
Immobile headed a ninth-minute opener and doubled up with a close-range finish on 74 minutes.
Lazio are now four points behind Napoli after leapfrogging Atalanta and Inter.