Milan (AFP) - Juventus beat fierce rivals Inter Milan 2-0 on Sunday to move in sight of Serie A's top four, while Felipe Anderson fired Lazio to a 1-0 win in the first Rome derby of the season.
Juve have spent almost the entire season lurching from one disaster to another but France midfielder Rabiot's brilliant first-time finish five minutes after the break and a late deflected shot from youngster Nicolo Fagioli earned them a fourth straight league win.
Massimiliano Allegri's side, who were without Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic, are fifth in Italy's top flight and two points off Lazio and Atalanta in the final two Champions League places.
Inter are a point behind Juve in seventh after their fifth defeat of the season, which came after they wasted a promising first half filled with opportunities.
Rabiot's opener came following superb play from the impressive Filip Kostic and five minutes after Hakan Calhanoglu had a piledriver tipped onto bar by Wojciech Szczesny, one of a series of chances Inter had to take the lead before going behind.
Edin Dzeko headed wide from inches out in the 27th minute, the Bosnian not ready for Lautaro Martinez's flick-on from a corner, but the worst miss came three minutes before half-time.
Denzel Dumfries looked certain to score when he raced unmarked onto Nicolo Barella's cross-cum-shot but somehow skied what looked like a simple finish.
And after Danilo had a goal for Juve ruled out for handball following a VAR check in the 65th minute, Martinez drove a poor low finish straight at Szczesny at the end of a quick counter-attack.
Fagioli then sealed the points with five minutes remaining after being fed by the Kostic to give Juve hope their recent troubles might be coming to an end.
Lazio's bragging rights
Anderson struck Lazio's winner just before the half-hour mark in the Italian capital after Roma defender Roger Ibanez gave the ball away cheaply in his own area under pressure from Pedro.
It was the 29-year-old's third league goal of the campaign as he continues to play in the unfamiliar position of centre-forward in place of the injured Ciro Immobile.
Italy striker Immobile was on the bench supporting Lazio despite a thigh problem leaving him unable to play and he watched his team go third with an assured performance.
"Immobile has been with us the whole time, even during the training camp...He's a leader and I'm playing a role in which he is a master," Anderson told DAZN.
Known for his expansive brand of football, Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri has developed a team who are hard to beat and shorn of key man Sergej Milinkovic-Savic they soaked up Roma's largely ineffectual attacking and claimed a seventh clean sheet from their last eight matches.
Roma were the nominal home side at the Stadio Olimpico but went closest to scoring four minutes after going behind when Nicolo Zaniolo's deflected shot smacked off the crossbar.
Jose Mourinho's side failed to create enough to deserve a win and drop down a place to fifth following their fourth defeat of the season.
"We didn't have that bit of quality that top players bring, we were missing something," Mourinho told DAZN.
Verona crisis continues
Earlier, Verona slumped to the bottom of Serie A on Sunday after losing 2-0 at promoted Monza, their eighth loss in a row.
Second-half strikes from Carlos Augusto and Andrea Colpani handed Monza their first win in four matches and left 10-man Verona on five points from 13 matches.
They are a point behind Sampdoria, who lost 2-0 at home to Fiorentina, and Cremonese who drew 2-2 at Salernitana on Saturday.
Monza stay 15th but are seven points clear of the relegation zone in their first ever Serie A season and were cheered on in the stands by stabbing victim Pablo Mari.
On-loan Arsenal defender Mari was one of several people attacked last week in a Carrefour supermarket on the outskirts of Milan by a man who killed an employee from the supermarket after grabbing a knife from a shelf.
