Sandro Tonali celebrated his 22nd birthday by scoring two goals that took AC Milan a step closer to their first Serie A title in 11 years.
Milan won 3-1 at Hellas Verona thanks mainly to a goal in each half from Tonali after Davide Faraoni had given the home side the lead.
Rafael Leao set up both goals for Tonali.
Substitute Alessandro Florenzi sealed the match late on, two minutes after coming off the bench.
Stefano Pioli’s side moved back to the top of the standings, two points above city rival Inter Milan after the defending champion beat Empoli 4-2 on Friday.
There are two rounds remaining.
Tonali almost got a hat-trick. He thought he had opened the scoring in the 16th minute but it was ruled out for offside on video review.
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Instead it was Verona which took the lead as a great team move was finished by Inter youth product Faraoni heading in Darko Lazovic’s cross.
Milan levelled on the stroke of halftime when Leao mazed his way into the left side of the area and rolled across for Tonali to slot into the far bottom corner.
Leao had been causing problems with his pace and did so again five minutes after the break as he ran from inside his own half to the byline and once again rolled the ball across for Tonali to tap in.
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Cagliari defender Giorgio Altare may have just saved his side from relegation with his first goal in Serie A.
Altare headed in a corner in the ninth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw at fellow struggler Salernitana in a match that was full of late drama.
Atalanta boosted their chances of qualifying for Europe with a 3-1 win at lowly Spezia.
Berat Djimsiti headed in his first Serie A goal of the season in the 73rd minute to restore Atalanta’s lead after Daniele Verde had cancelled out Luis Muriel’s opener in the first half.