Dries Mertens scored four goals - and became the first player since 1974 to score consecutive Serie A hat-tricks - as Napoli beat Torino 5-3. The Belgium international beat England goalkeeper Joe Hart three times in nine first-half minutes, seven days after a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Cagliari. Mertens drilled his first from a Jose Callejon cut-back and added a penalty before scoring a third from close in. His best goal, though, was his fourth, a perfectly weighted chip over Hart.
Torino, 3-0 down after 22 minutes, did fight back in the second half, with Andrea Belotti pulling one back before former Tottenham centre-back Vlad Chiriches added Napoli's fourth. Luca Rossettini and Iago Falque, with a penalty, then scored either side of Mertens' classy effort, but Napoli ensured victory to move up to third. The last player to score hat-tricks in consecutive Serie A matches was Juventus forward Pietro Anastasi in May 1974.
Only once in his career has Joe Hart conceded as many goals in one match - he was in the Manchester City side beaten 6-0 at Chelsea in the Premier League in October 2007. Lazio climbed to fourth with a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina, but had to negotiate a nervy second half after appearing to take command with Keita Balde Diao's angled finish and a Lucas Biglia penalty. Soon after the break, the home side needed keeper Federico Marchetti to save a Josip Illcic penalty to maintain their 2-0 lead, and Mauro Zarate then scored for Fiorentina - against his former club - to set up a tense finale. But Stefan Radu scored a third for the home side late on to end any doubts about the result.
Palermo, next to bottom, achieved the most extraordinary comeback of the day - and ended a nine-match losing streak as they came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 at Genoa. Giovanni Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid manager Diego, scored two and set up a third for Nikola Ninkovic to put Genoa on course for victory with 25 minutes to go. But the visitors, for whom Robin Quaison had scored in the first half, made it 3-2 through Edoardo Goldaniga, before striking twice in the final three minutes - thanks to Andrea Rispoli's tap-in and Aleksandar Trajkovski angled drive.
There was still time for Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin to be sent off, as he pushed over Ilija Nestorovski when the Palermo striker prevented him from taking a free-kick quickly. In Sunday's early Serie A match, Antonio Candreva's first-half goal gave Inter Milan a third successive league win, 1-0 at Sassuolo. Stefano Pioli's side finished with 10 men after Felipe Melo was sent off in stoppage time for two bookable offences. Bottom club Pescara remain without a league victory after losing 3-0 at home to Bologna, while Crotone stay in the relegation zone after a 2-0 defeat at Udinese. Elsewhere, Chievo beat Sampdoria 2-1.
