Juventus storm back to top of table
Juventus went back to the top of Serie A after a 3-0 win over Palermo yesterday which took them ahead of Lazio on goal difference. The Old Lady of Turin also have a game in hand on most of their rivals and remain the only unbeaten team in the...
Juventus went back to the top of Serie A after a 3-0 win over Palermo yesterday which took them ahead of Lazio on goal difference.
The Old Lady of Turin also have a game in hand on most of their rivals and remain the only unbeaten team in the league.
Simone Pepe, Alessandro Matri and Claudio Marchisio scored the goals to down the Sicilians, who are yet to score away from home this season.
Despite their lofty standing, coach Antonio Conte said he will only know if his side is capable of challenging for the title once they have reached the halfway point in the season, after another nine matches.
“We’ll talk again about that at the halfway point when we’ve played everyone,” he said.
“That’s when we’ll add up the numbers and we’ll see where we are and what we want to become.”
Before the game Conte had said he wanted his players to treat it like a World Cup final.
“It was important to get back on track after the long break (they hadn’t played in three weeks) with three points,” Conte told Sky.
“I exaggerated a bit but I wanted to give a clear message to the fans and players.”
Juve dominated against Palermo throughout the match and could have won more comfortably.
Giorgio Chiellini was the architect on 20 minutes as the hosts went in front, crossing from the left for an unmarked Pepe to head home.
Andrea Pirlo was a lick of paint away from doubling the advantage with a shot from 20 yards that curled around goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas but hit the inside of the post only to rebound to safety.
Josip Ilicic wasted a great chance to equalise when Fabrizio Miccoli put him through one-on-one with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon but the Slovenia playmaker failed to connect with the ball and the opportunity went begging.
The killer second came three minutes after the break as Stephan Lichtsteiner’s slide-rule pass put Matri in behind the backline and he finished from a tight angle.
Marchisio finished off a well-worked third on 65 minutes from close range as Matri’s dummy from Mirko Vucinic’s cross fooled the Palermo defence.
Udinese fell off the top and are now a point behind Juve in fourth as they lost 2-0 at Parma.
Jonathan Biabiany was left unmarked to head home a corner before he won a penalty when Dusan Basta brought him down.
Sebastian Giovinco scored from the spot for his seventh of the term.
Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin accused his players of getting above their station.
“The key to the match was humility and Parma had more of that than we did,” he said.
“I said that we mustn’t be presumptuous but obviously I failed to make myself understood.”
Results
Serie A
Bologna 0
Cesena 1
Parolo 84;
HT: 0-0. Att: 20,397.
Catania 1
Almiron 78;
Chievo 2
Pellisier 45 pen; Sammarco 73;
HT: 0-1. Att: 12,000.
Missed penalty: Lodi (CAT) 68.
Genoa 1
Veloso 86;
Novara 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 20,000.
Red cards: Antonelli (G) 43; Meggiorini (N) 81.
Juventus 3
Pepe 20; Matri 48; Marchisio 65;
Palermo 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 36,489.
Parma 2
Biabiany 58; Giovinco 76 pen;
Udinese 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 14,239.
Roma 2
Pjanic 25; Gago 54;
Lecce 1
Bertolacci 61;
HT: 1-0. Att: 30,768.
Siena 2
D’Agostino 44 pen; Gazzi 87;
Atalanta 2
Denis 15 pen, 53;
HT: 1-1. Att: 8,526.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 7 | 22 |
| Lazio | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 22 |
| Milan | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 14 | 21 |
| Udinese | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 21 |
| Roma | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 17 |
| Palermo | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 16 |
| Napoli | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 15 |
| Genoa | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 15 |
| Chievo | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| Parma | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 15 |
| Siena | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 10 | 14 |
| Catania | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 18 | 14 |
| Atalanta | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 14 | 13 |
| Fiorentina | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 13 |
| Cagliari | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 13 |
| Inter | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 11 |
| Bologna | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 17 | 10 |
| Lecce | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 8 |
| Novara | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 7 |
| Cesena | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 6 |
Top scorers
9 goals: Denis (Atalanta).
8 goals: Di Natale (Udinese).
7 goals: Giovinco (Parma).
6 goals: Klose (Lazio).
Next fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Udinese vs Roma.
Saturday: 18.00 Lecce vs Catania; Novara vs Parma. 20.45 Atalanta vs Napoli; Lazio Juventus.
Sunday: 15.00 Cagliari vs Bologna; Cesena vs Genoa; Palermo vs Fiorentina; Siena vs Inter. 20.45 Milan vs Chievo.
Prima Divisione ‘A’
Avellino vs Como 3-3; Carpi vs Monza 2-0; Lumezzane vs Pro Vercelli 0-1; Pavia vs Benevento 1-2; Spal vs Foggia 1-2; Taranto vs Pisa 0-0; Ternana vs Sorrento 0-0; Tritium vs Reggiana 0-1; Viareggio vs Foligno 1-0.
Standings: Ternana 28; Taranto 26; Pro Vercelli 23; Carpi 22; Sorrento, Tritium, Lumezzane 21; Como, Pisa 20; Reggiana, Avellino 16; Foggia 14; Benevento 13; Monza 11; Spal 10; Viareggio, Pavia 8; Foligno 0.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Bassano vs Spezia 0-0; F. Salo vs Prato 0-1; Latina vs SudTirol 2-1; Pergocrema vs Frosinone 3-0; Portogruaro vs Trapani 2-2; Siracusa vs Barletta 2-0; Triestina vs Cremonese 1-0; Lanciano vs Carrarese 1-1.
Standings: Lanciano 22; Cremonese, Siracusa, Pergocrema 21; SudTirol, Carrarese 20; Trapani, Frosinone, Portogruaro, Barletta 19; Spezia 16; Latina, Triestina 15; Piacenza 13; Prato 12; Andria 11; Bassano 10; Feralpi Salo 9.