Mohamed Salah returned to his old stomping ground to propel Roma to the summit of the Serie A table, the Napoli bandwagon continues to roll while Bologna and Inter endured frustrating evenings as they seeked a return to winning ways.
Matchweek nine on the Italian peninsula served up several intriguing sub-plots:
Garcia plays his cards right
It was, in hindsight, predictable. Roma, a side constructed to punish opposition on the counter-attack, squared up against the division's most possession-orienated outfit in Fiorentina and ruefully exploited their errors.
Paolo Sousa's side fell behind minutes following the restart against Napoli last weekend and were struck with a lingering sense of deja vu on Sunday evening. No sooner had the fifth minute marked passed when Mohamed Salah, a hero turned villain among the Fiorentina fraternity, bent a curling effort towards the far sticks and past Ciprian Tataransanu to edge his side infront.
Garcia praised his unit for their "intelligence" in adapting to the circumstances. Roma sat deep thereafter, suffocating any move that advanced into the final-third and were rewarded for their patience minutes shy of the interval.
Inexplicable was the Viola error - Facundo Roncaglia appeared wrong side of Gervinho as he loitered on the halfway line - but take nothing away from the speed in which Garcia's side broke. Daniele de Rossi instigated the move with a smart block inside his own penalty area, shifted possession onto Alessandro Florenzi who freed the Ivorian to cooly finish.
The hosts constructed chances of their own, namely via Nikola Kalinic - who was uncharacteristically profligate on the evening - but were forced to wait until the last kick of the ball to reduce the arrears. Khouma Babacar nodded home and, though Salah's dubious dismissal mollified the ire of the home support, it would be they who would spend the week staring up at the Egyptian.
Mancini's frontline requires a rejig
As Inter ambled down to the tunnel at half-time in Sicily having been held at arms length by Palermo, changes seemed a formality. Inter, castigated for a worryingly predictable second-half display against Juventus last time out, had been anaemic in attack and, aside from flashes of incision from Stefan Jovetic, showed few signs of making a breakthrough.
Ivan Perisic had yielded yet another quiet performance on the left-hand side while the service into Mauro Icardí was at a premium. The Nerazzurri emerged from the tunnel for the second period unchanged but, with the second-half ten minutes old, Mancini turned to Jonathan Biabany.
Almost instantaneously the Frenchman changed the complexion of Inter's showing, injecting pace into a previously rudderless attacking front and, on the hour mark, ghosting in-behind the Rosanero rearguard to manufacture the breakthrough.
Inter, perhaps unfortunately, surrendered their lead five minutes later yet Adem Ljajic's introduction late on - the Serb has been another player who has been used sparingly by the Italian - offered more evidence of Inter's need for a more vigorous wideman. The ex-Roma winger slalomed his way through the Palermo midfield, on one instance, and liberated Biabany through the middle.
He may have been heroically foiled by the ever-excellent Stefano Sorrentino, but if Inter are to stand a chance at going toe-to-toe with the free-scoring outfits of Napoli and Fiorentina, Mancini must inject some dynamism into his flailing frontline.
Napoli overcome considerable obstacle
When weighed against Chievo's lowly status since they gained promotion to the top-flight, Napoli's 1-0 victory at the Stade Bentegodi on Sunday evening represents little more than another three points. But when slid into broader context, and accounting for the Flying Donkey's revival under Rolando Maran, Maurizio Sarri's side overcame a significant hurdle in their quest for the coveted Scudetto.
Gonzalo Higuain struck the only goal of the game just shy of the hour mark, darting onto a driven centre from left-back, Faouzi Ghoulam, to rifle the ball into the roof of the net. It was the Argentine's first away goal since January but, more promisingly, his seventh goal in eight outings.
Chievo offered resistance throughout and were fortunate not to break the deadlock themselves seconds after Jose Callejon had squandered a golden opportunity down the other end. Simone Pepe, who was deployed in a winger-cum-trequartista role behind the front duo, strode forward and liberated Lucas Castro, only for the Argentine to fluff his lines.
Napoli grew in influence as the game progressed and Higuain's goal was perhaps due rewards for his wretched luck in the opening period. The forward cross kissed the far post midway through the first period after prompting fingertips from Albano Bizzarri moments prior.
With Napoli approaching a manageable span of fixtures in the forthcoming weeks, it would be wise to avoid understating Sunday evening's triumph.
Atalanta's visit next week is D-Day for Delio Rossi
Few expected Bologna coach Delio Rossi, to survive beyond last weekend's home defeat to Palermo, but the ex-Fiorentina boss remained at the helm as the Rossoblu made the short trip to Modena to face fellow new-boys, Carpi; a side, ironically, that Bologna have tried vigorously to distance themselves from over the summer.
The club were lauded for the captures of Mattia Destro and Anthony Mounier, while Rossi headed into his maiden Serie A campaign in the Bologna dugout boasting a talented - if slightly volatile - glut of players in Lorenzo Crisetig, Emanuele Giaccherini, Franco Brienza and Saphir Taïder.
Yet life among the Italian aristocracy has been turbulent and Rossi entered Saturday evening's encounter mindful of the repercussions of a disappointing result. For much of the clash, too, it felt that the writing was on the wall for 54-year-old, only for his side to mount an impromptu comeback after the interval.
Gaetano Letizia had, somewhat scrappily, notched the hosts ahead midway through the opening period, but Lorenzo Lollo's first-half dismissal offered Rossi catharsis.
Daniele Gastaldello equalised minutes after the restart and, after labouring for much of the second 45 minutes, were indebted to Carpi No.1, Vid Belec, when he parried a stoppage time effort into the path of full-back, Adam Masina, to prod into an empty net.
Given that the Rossoblu's fate in Serie A will be determined by the results they yield against those positioned around them, a defeat to Inter on Tuesday night may not signal the end of Rossi's tenure. But a home reversal to Atalanta next week may do the trick.
Pioli's status continues to soar
Stefano Pioli circled next month's Derby della Capitale as a potential "Scudetto clash" in the wake of his side's 3-0 pulverisation of Torino at the Stadio Olimpico.
For a coach that choreographed Lazio's first podium finish since 2007, the Italian has remained surprisingly muted this term as the Biancocelesti have slowly shaken off the cobwebs of last month's ignominious defeat in Naples to sit within touching distance of their bitter rivals at atop the Serie A standings.
After Sunday's blistering display, though, Pioli's post-match bravado was justified. Yes, Torino are yet to record a single point on the road this season since their curtain raiser at Frosinone, but the manner in which Lazio, blighted by injury and attempting to balance a taxing two-game per-week schedule, desecrated the Granata was a sight to behold.
The Italian was shorn of - and will continue to be - central figures in Keita Balde, Marco Parolo, Stefan de Vrij and Daniele Cataldi (and was forced to accelerate Lucas Biglia's return from the treatment table) for the clash yet Lazio still appeared as menacing as they had been since last season.
Felipe Anderson has seemingly rekindled his form of yesteryear and netted his fourth goal in seven days. Miroslav Klose, meanwhile, was restored to the starting line-up in place of Alessandro Matri and provided the deftest of touches to manufacture the hosts' first and second of the match.
Merely three days after the Biancocelesti had to contend with a numerical disadvantage for 85 minutes against an obdurate Rosenborg side, they made impressively light work of eighth-placed Torino.