Juventus edged closer to a second successive Serie A title after winning 2-1 in a pulsating ‘derby of Italy’ at old rivals Inter yesterday.
A superb long-range Fabio Quagliarella strike after three minutes and a tap-in from Alessandro Matri on the hour were just enough for Juve to beat a determined Inter, who briefly levelled the scores on 54 minutes through Rodrigo Palacio.
“It was a game played at a great pace right from the start and it’s an important win for us. Now we can think about Bayern,” Matri said as he looked ahead to Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Bayern Munich.
“We can’t relax until we’re mathematically certain of winning (the scudetto), but today we sent a signal out that we’re still concentrated on the league.”
The win put the champions on 68 points with eight games left, nine points clear of Napoli who held off a brave challenge from Torino to win a cracking match 5-3 at the Olympic Stadium last night.
Swiss midfielder Blerim Dzemaili scored a hat-trick for Napoli who twice relinquished the lead and also had Marek Hamsik missing a penalty six minutes from half-time.
Hamsik’s spot-kick was saved by Jean-Francois Gillet.
Torino hit back to level matters with goals from Nelson Barreto (30) and a 74th-minute Jonathas penalty, given for a handball by Edinson Cavani who entered the fray 20 minutes into second half.
Riccardo Meggiorini put Torino 3-2 ahead with 12 minutes left but Napoli produced a storming finish, scoring three goals in the last 10 minutes.
Dzemaili completed his hat-trick 10 minutes from time before Cavani struck twice to lift Napoli back into second place.
Milan remained two points behind Napoli after they beat Chievo 1-0 thanks to Riccardo Montolivo’s 25th-minute tap-in after a Mario Balotelli free-kick rebounded to him.
Chievo finished a scrappy game played on a heavy pitch with ten men after defender Dario Dainelli was sent off for two bookings, the second in the 78th minute for a clumsy challenge on Balotelli.
Inter, who also had Esteban Cambiasso sent off in injury time for a rash tackle on Sebastian Giovinco, remain on 47 points and drop down to sixth after a 2-1 win against fellow European hopefuls Catania saw Lazio move above them into fifth place.
Mariano Izco’s goal after 50 minutes put Catania ahead but Vladimir Petkovic’s side hit back through a calamitous Nicola Legrottaglie own goal with 11 minutes left and an Antonio Candreva penalty two minutes later.
Pinilla brace
A Mauricio Pinilla brace helped Cagliari comfortably beat Champions League-chasing Fiorentina 2-1 at an empty Is Arenas, once again closed to the public for safety reasons.
Fans protesting outside the ground celebrated a smart 11th-minute finish and a penalty six minutes from half-time which have all but confirmed Serie A football next term for the troubled Sardinian club.
Second-from-bottom Palermo were the big winners after Josip Ilicic and Fabrizio Miccoli did the damage in their 2-0 home win against Roma.
Slovenian Ilicic finished with aplomb after a superb long pass from his strike partner after 21 minutes before supplying the assist for Miccoli’s winner 14 minutes later.
The struggling Sicilians are now three points behind 17th placed Genoa, who could only draw 2-2 in a thrilling relegation clash at home to third-from-bottom Siena, who are on 26 points.