Champions Inter Milan were held to a 0-0 home draw against Juventus in a classic late Sunday tie and failed to draw level with Lazio atop the Italian Serie A, dpa reported.
Rome side Lazio beat Brescia 1-0 earlier Sunday with a goal from captain Stefano Mauri and lead now on 13 points from six games.
Milan edged Parma 1-0 on Saturday through a great drive from Andrea Pirlo to trail level with Napoli and Inter, two points from the top, while Juve lag on eight.
At the Giuseppe Meazza, Inter coach Rafael Benitez fielded the young Brazilian Coutinho and Frenchman Jonathan Biabiany upfront next to an in-form Samuel Eto'o boasting a total of 11 goals from nine games.
On the half hour Diego Milito regained his post upfront as Biabiany suffered a bad blow from Paolo De Ceglie, but the Argentine had few chances and before the break was late as he tried to connect with a cross from Eto'o.
Juve were most effective on the right flank where Milos Krasic stormed to provide feeds for Fabio Quagliarella and Vincenzo Iaquinta, who missed a deflection and was offside when he managed a flick home.
The impressive form of Eto'o caused serious problems to Juve's right-side defenders, who often struggled to block his devastating runs.
There was trouble on the hour also for Brazilian Julio Cesar, called to deflect Krasic's nasty shot by his left post and nine minutes later when Quagliarella tried to finish off a counter-attack.
Juve's Marco Storari was graced by Milito on 78 minutes when the Argentine made a classy control in the area but fired wide to the left of the goalkeeper.
"It was the right result after a very tactical game," Inter's Serb midfielder Dejan Stankovic said. "We run a lot play every three days. If I think about the national team (Italy welcome Serbia on October 12 for a Euro 2012 qualifier) I feel even more tired, but it is fine like this."
In earlier Sunday action, Lazio's crosstown rivals Roma plunged back into the lower reaches, losing 2-0 at Napoli a week after beating Inter 1-0.
Palermo took home a 2-1 win from 10-man Fiorentina, while former Fiorentina striker Luca Toni nodded home an injury-time free kick to seal Genoa's 2-1 home win over Bari despite the dismissal of defender Emiliano Moretti.
Bologna and Sampdoria drew 1-1, Chievo and Cagliari drew 0-0, Lecce beat Catania 1-0 at noon Sunday and Udinese also won 1-0 over Cesena on Saturday.