Monza's dream debut Serie A season continued on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Bologna which moved them into the top half of the division.
Gianluca Donati poked home the only goal in the 25th minute of a tight game at the Stadio Dall'Ara, enough for Monza to take ninth place.
Raffaele Palladino's side are unbeaten in eight matches in the league, a run which includes drawing with Inter Milan and a historic win at Juventus.
Marko Arnautovic returned to action after over a month out but the presence of Bologna's star forward wasn't enough to inspire his team to get a result.
Thiago Motta's Bologna drop down a place to 10th after being overtaken by Monza on goal difference.
Both are a point behind Udinese, whose defender Destiny Udogie scored the fastest goal of the Serie A season in their 2-2 draw with Sassuolo.
Italy international Udogie, who will join Tottenham Hotspur next season, opened the scoring after just 25 seconds with a right-footed strike from the edge of the area.
However the 20-year-old's strike couldn't stop Udinese's dismal run of form at home, where they haven't won a match since beating Inter Milan in mid-September.
Udinese started the season strongly but have won only once in their last 14 league matches.
Sassuolo are 15th and are sweating on the condition of star man Domenico Berardi who had to leave the field with a thigh problem.
Later Juventus face fierce rivals Fiorentina in Turin before Napoli attempt to provisionally extend their league lead to 16 points, with closest challengers Inter Milan at Sampdoria on Monday night.