Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo scored his first goal for Serie A champions Juventus in a 2-0 win over Bologna on Sunday to pile the pressure on both Milan teams.
Andrea Pirlo's side bounced back from last weekend's 2-0 league defeat by Inter Milan, and followed on from their morale-boosting Italian Super Cup triumph over Napoli midweek.
AC Milan held top spot in Serie A on Saturday despite falling 3-0 at home against Atalanta after second-placed Inter were held to a goalless draw at Udinese.
Roma are third after a 4-3 win over Spezia on Saturday with Juventus moving fourth ahead of Atalanta into the Champions League berths, seven points behind AC Milan with a game in hand.
Juventus dominated 13th-placed Bologna in Turin with Arthur breaking through after quarter of an hour with a long-range shot that took a big deflection off Bologna defender Jerdy Schouten.
It was the first goal for the ex-Barcelona player in 19 appearances since joining Juventus from the La Liga side last summer for €82 million ($99m).
US midfielder Weston McKennie grabbed the second on 71 minutes heading home from a corner, for his fourth goal since moving from Bundesliga side Schalke.
"McKennie is always in the right place, he has great vision," said Pirlo, hailing an "important" win after last week's defeat to Inter in the San Siro.
"We are a strong team, it all depends on us. As we demonstrated in the Super Cup we are not the team seen in the San Siro.
"We did well in the first half but if you don't manage to close it, the games always remain in the balance."
Bologna could have suffered more but for goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski denying Adrien Rabiot and Cristiano Ronaldo in the final four minutes, having also been decisive in the first half.
Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt returned from coronaivrus, coming off the bench for the last quarter of an hour as Juventus extended their unbeaten run against Bologna going back a decade.
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Gallery: Ronaldo and Juve win Italian Super Cup
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Juventus' forward Cristiano Ronaldo with the Italian Super Cup after beating Napoli 2-0 at Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia on January 21. AFP -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo under pressure from Hirving Lozano Giovanni and Di Lorenzo of Napoli. AFP -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo and Tiemoue Bakayoko of Napoli. EPA -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo. EPA -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo and Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli. EPA -
Napoli defender Konstantinos Manolas tackles Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo. AFP -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo shoots past Napoli keeper David Ospina to open the scoring. AFP -
Ronaldo scores Juve's first goal. AFP -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo after winning the Super Cup. AFP -
Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo shoots on goal. AFP -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with Dejan Kulusevski and Weston McKennie. AFP -
Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with Federico Bernardeschi. AFP -
Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo. AFP
