Juve take control
Juventus took control of the Serie A title race with a 4-0 victory over Roma last night as Milan slipped up again in a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna. It was Juve’s sixth win in a row and opened up a three-point lead at the top with five games left. They...
Juventus took control of the Serie A title race with a 4-0 victory over Roma last night as Milan slipped up again in a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna.
It was Juve’s sixth win in a row and opened up a three-point lead at the top with five games left.
They also have a better head-to-head record than the Rossoneri meaning Milan need to make up four points to hold onto their scudetto crown.
Arturo Vidal scored a brace and Andrea Pirlo added the other as Juve killed the game before the half hour mark with Claudio Marchisio rounding off the scoring after the break.
Vidal arrived in the right place to finish from Paolo De Ceglie’s cross on four minutes and the Chile midfielder hit an unstoppable shot from Mirko Vucinic’s pass four minutes later to double the advantage.
Just before the half hour mark the game was over as Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was harshly judged to have brought down Marchisio in the box.
To add insult to injury he was sent off, even though there were two covering defenders and Marchisio, who seemed to hang his leg out to be caught by the keeper, had clearly lost the ball.
Substitute goalkeeper Gianluca Curci saved Pirlo’s spot-kick but the Italy midfielder kept his cool to slot in the rebound.
Marchisio added the fourth with a precise low shot from outside the box.
Milan slipped up for the third time in four matches as Gaston Ramirez gave Bologna a first-half lead and Daniele Bonera was sent off for the hosts eight minutes from time before Zlatan Ibrahimovic rescued a point.
Ibrahimovic had what seemed a valid goal ruled out for a tight offside decision in the second half.
Milan have only picked up five points from their last four league games and have only one win in six in all competitions.
The hosts fell behind on 26 minutes when indecision from Mark van Bommel saw Alessandro Diamanti break from the halfway line and slip in Ramirez to finish low into the corner.
Milan piled on the pressure after the break and Ibrahimovic seemed to have the ball in the net but was pulled back for a dubious offside.
Their task grew complicated eight minutes from time when Bonera went through the back of Robert Acquafresca and picked up a second booking, leaving the champions to finish the game with 10 men.
But Ibrahimovic found the net a minute from time, tapping home a deep cross at the back post.
Lazio squandered the chance to exploit Udinese’s 0-0 draw at Chievo on Saturday night as an injury-time strike by Valeri Bojinov earned Lecce a 1-1 draw in the capital.
A group of home fans disgraced themselves with anti-semitic chants during the first half to make matters worse.
Lazio looked to have snatched the win eight minutes from time when Brazilian Matuzalem struck but Lecce had the last word.
The third-placed Romans are now three points ahead of Udinese and four ahead of Napoli, who beat Novara 2-0 on Saturday, with five games to play in the race for Champions League football next season.
On a dramatic day, Genoa’s clash at home to Siena was held up for 45 minutes as fans protested the hosts’ performance by throwing flares onto the pitch and climbing safety barriers.
With Genoa losing 4-1 in the end, Lecce are now just one point from safety.
Serie A
Cesena 2
Santana 26; Rennella 28;
Palermo 2
Bertolo 20; Silvestre 45;
Fiorentina 0
Inter 0
Missed penalty: Ljajic (F) 69.
Genoa 1
Del Grosso 79 og;
Siena 4
Brienza 17, 37; Destro 19; Giorgi 49;
Juventus 4
Vidal 4, 8; Pirlo 29; Marchisio 52;
Roma 0
Red card: Stekelenburg (R) 27.
Lazio 1
Matuzalem 82;
Lecce 1
Bojinov 90;
Milan 1
Ibrahimovic 90;
Bologna 1
Ramirez 26;
Red card: Bonera (M) 82.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 33 | 19 | 14 | 0 | 57 | 18 | 71 |
| Milan | 33 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 63 | 27 | 68 |
| Lazio | 33 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 49 | 41 | 55 |
| Udinese | 33 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 44 | 32 | 52 |
| Napoli | 33 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 58 | 41 | 51 |
| Roma | 33 | 15 | 5 | 13 | 52 | 46 | 50 |
| Inter | 33 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 47 | 45 | 49 |
| Catania | 33 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 44 | 43 | 46 |
| Chievo | 33 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 40 | 43 |
| Siena | 33 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 41 | 35 | 42 |
| Palermo | 33 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 46 | 51 | 41 |
| Bologna | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 34 | 39 | 41 |
| Parma | 33 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 44 | 50 | 41 |
| Atalanta | 33 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 37 | 35 | 40 |
| Fiorentina | 33 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 32 | 38 | 38 |
| Cagliari | 33 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 33 | 42 | 38 |
| Genoa | 33 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 44 | 62 | 36 |
| Lecce | `33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 38 | 49 | 35 |
| Novara | 33 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 27 | 56 | 25 |
| Cesena | 33 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 21 | 50 | 22 |
Top scorers
24 goals: Ibrahimovic (Milan).
20 goals: Di Natale (Udinese), Milito (Inter), Cavani (Napoli).
16 goals: Palacio (Genoa).
Next fixtures
Tomorrow: 18.30 Atalanta vs Chievo; Cagliari vs Catania.
Wednesday: 12.30 Novara vs Lazio. 15.00 Lecce vs Napoli; Palermo vs Parma; Roma vs Fiorentina; Siena vs Bologna; Udinese vs Inter. 18.00 Milan vs Genoa; Cesena vs Juve.
Prima Divisione ‘A’
Avellino vs Pavia 1-1; Benevento vs Spal 2-0; Como vs Monza 0-1; Foggia vs Lumezzane 1-0; Foligno vs Taranto 1-2; Pisa vs Carpi 2-1; Pro Vercelli vs Ternana 0-0; Reggiana vs Viareggio 1-1; Tritium vs Sorrento 0-0.
Standings: Ternana 60; Carpi 56; Pro Vercelli 55; Taranto 54; Benevento 52; Sorrento 51; Pisa 42; Avellino 40; Lumezzane 39; Reggiana 38; Foggia 37; Tritium 36; Como 34; Monza 30; Viareggio, Spal 27; Pavia 26; Foligno 21.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Andria vs Siracusa 1-0; Carrarese vs FeralpiSalo 0-0; Cremonese vs Barletta 2-2; Frosinone vs Porto-gruaro 2-1; Piacenza vs Latina 1-1; Prato vs Bassano 0-2; Spezia vs SudTirol 2-1; Trapani vs Triestina 3-2; Lanciano vs Pergocrema 0-0.
Standings: Trapani 58; Spezia 53; Lanciano 51; Siracusa 49; Barletta, Cremonese 44; SudTirol 43; Frosinone 42; Carrarese, Portogruaro 41; Per-gocrema 39; Triestina 35; FeralpiSalo, Andria 34; Latina, Prato 31; Piacenza 29; Bassano 27.