Juventus moved a step closer to a successful defence of their Serie A title with a 2-0 win at Lazio last night which opens up an 11-point lead at the top of Serie A with six games left.
Two goals from Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal inside the first half an hour ended Lazio’s hopes of moving into contention for a place in the Champions League next season in the battle of the two last Italian survivors in Europe, up until last week.
Juve bounced back in style from their Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich while Lazio failed to do likewise after going out of the Europa League quarter-finals at the hands of Fenerbahce on Thursday.
Lazio, lacking the suspended Giuseppe Biava and Stefano Radu, had to improvise in defence, which is hardly an ideal situation when facing the runaway league leaders.
A foul by the inexperienced Cana on Juve striker Mirko Vucinic inside the penalty area was punished in the eighth minute, and Vidal beat Federico Marchetti from the spot to put the Bianconeri ahead.
Vucinic was denied by a good diving save from Marchetti in the 20th minute before Vidal made it 2-0.
Vucinic’s cross was diverted kindly for Vidal by the luckless Cana, and the former Bayer Leverkusen midfielder accepted the invitation to score from close range.
Heads dropped
Lazio’s heads dropped and Paul Pogba missed two chances to increase Juve’s lead before the interval.
The home team’s coach Vladimir Petkovic appeared to have found the right words during the break as Miroslav Klose and Ederson both went close with two early chances in the second half.
But they were always open to attacks and Claudio Marchisio should have increased Juve’s lead when he lifted his shot over in the 56th minute.
Libor Kozak came on, but the man who was so prolific as the Europa League’s top goalscorer could not recreate that threat in a Serie A game, wasting several chances to reopen the game.
And Klose summed up his side’s luck, or lack thereof, when he shot wide in stoppage time.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 32 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 63 | 20 | 74 |
| Napoli | 32 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 58 | 30 | 63 |
| Milan | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 56 | 35 | 59 |
| Fiorentina | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 58 | 39 | 55 |
| Roma | 32 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 63 | 53 | 51 |
| Lazio | 32 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 40 | 39 | 51 |
| Inter | 32 | 15 | 5 | 12 | 50 | 45 | 50 |
| Udinese | 32 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 44 | 39 | 48 |
| Catania | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 38 | 47 |
| Cagliari | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 39 | 49 | 42 |
| Parma | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 39 | 42 | 39 |
| Bologna | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 42 | 41 | 38 |
| Sampdoria (-1) | 32 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 37 | 39 | 37 |
| Atalanta (-2) | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 34 | 47 | 37 |
| Torino (-1) | 32 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 40 | 45 | 36 |
| Chievo | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 32 | 48 | 36 |
| Siena (-6) | 32 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 34 | 44 | 30 |
| Palermo | 32 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 29 | 45 | 28 |
| Genoa | 32 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 50 | 28 |
| Pescara | 32 | 6 | 3 | 23 | 24 | 66 | 21 |
Next fixtures
Tomorrow: Coppa Italia SF, 2nd leg – 20.45 Inter vs Roma.
Saturday: 18.00 Genoa vs Atalanta. 20.45 Udinese vs Lazio.
Sunday: 12.30 Inter vs Parma. 15.00 Bologna vs Sampdoria; Catania vs Palermo; Fiorentina vs Torino; Napoli vs Cagliari; Roma vs Pescara; Siena vs Chievo. 20.45 Juventus vs Milan.