Gonzalo Higuain scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season as Napoli outclassed AC Milan 3-1 at the San Paolo to grab their first Serie A win in four games on Saturday.
Napoli succumbed 3-2 to Roma in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-final in midweek and welcomed an apparently resurgent Milan side hoping to return to winning ways after two successive draws and a 3-0 defeat to Atalanta last week.
However any fears that Milan would cause an upset were dashed by a commanding home performance which left striker Mario Balotelli in tears after he was replaced with 20 minutes remaining.
Milan, unbeaten in three league games since Clarence Seedorf took the helm, opened the scoring through Moroccan Adel Taarabt, who produced a fine individual effort seven minutes into his debut.
However a Gokhan Inler shot was deflected into Christian Abbiati's net barely four minutes later and as the Rossoneri failed to fire the hosts turned on the class to see Higuain strike in the 56th and 82nd minutes.
Napoli's 14th win restored their three-point lead over Fiorentina, who beat Atalanta 2-0 earlier, although Rafael Benitez's side are 12 points behind leaders Juventus.
Juventus are away to Verona on Sunday, when Roma, second at nine points but with a game in hand, face Lazio away in the city derby at the Olympic Stadium.
