Juve’s Giorgio Chiellini (left) in an aerial duel with Ibson Barreto.Juve’s Giorgio Chiellini (left) in an aerial duel with Ibson Barreto.

Juventus moved closer to a third consecutive Serie A title when a long-range Paul Pogba goal beat a dogged Bologna side 1-0 for their 17th home win in a row after a nervy display.

Antonio Conte’s side remained eight points clear of closest challengers Roma after France midfielder Pogba scored with a powerful low drive in the 64th minute against a well-organised Bologna team who hardly ever left their own half.

Defeat for Bologna means they have dropped into the relegation zone, with Sassuolo’s 1-0 win at Chievo moving them level with Davide Ballardini’s side on 28 points but above them on head-to-head results.

Roma managed to keep the pace with the Serie A leaders when they beat Fiorentina 1-0 at the Artemio Franchi to guarantee themselves second spot and a place in the Champions League group stage

Radja Nainggolan scored the all-important goal after 26 minutes when he poked the ball past Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto.

Rudi Garcia’s side are 14 points ahead of third-placed Napoli, who earlier drew 1-1 at Udinese.

Inter moved a step closer to qualifying for next season’s Europa League with a 2-0 Serie A win over 10-man Parma while local rivals Milan boosted their chances of European football with their fifth straight victory.

Walter Mazzarri’s Inter, who secured victory with second-half goals from Rolando and Fredy Guarin after Gabriel Paletta was sent off for the hosts, stay fifth but are on 56 points, five ahead of Parma and Milan, who thumped lowly Livorno 3-0.

Torino, two points further adrift in eighth, drew 3-3 with Lazio in an incredible match where Ciro Immobile scored his 20th goal of the season to give the away side a late lead only for Lazio’s Antonio Candreva to equalise deep into stoppage time.

Third-place Napoli were held at Udinese with Rafael Benitez’s side taking a 39th-minute lead through Jose Callejon’s superb volley but Bruno Fernandes slotted home an equaliser 10 minutes after the restart capitalising on a dreadful pass from Napoli keeper Pepe Reina.

Portugal international Rolando headed Inter in front three minutes into the second half after Antonio Cassano missed a first-half penalty and Paletta was sent off for a second booking following a needless foul on Rodrigo Palacio.

Inter, who dominated after the sending off, sealed a great win with a last-minute strike from Guarin, who scored with an angled drive, shortly after coming on as a substitute.

Clarence Seedorf’s Milan strolled to victory thanks to a Mario Balotelli header two minutes before the break, Adel Taarabt’s first goal at the San Siro six minutes after half-time and Giampaolo Pazzini’s first goal since January.

Balotelli’s goal was his 14th of the season.

With sixth place likely to offer a Europa League spot, 10th-place Verona are still in the running having moved up to 49 points after a 2-1 win at Atalanta in which veteran striker Luca Toni scored his 18th goal of the season.

The relegation battle heated up with Sassuolo beating Chievo 1-0 thanks to Domenico Berardi’s 13th goal of the season.

Bottom side Catania gave their slim hopes of survival a boost with a 2-1 win over Sampdoria to move to within six points of safety, while Cagliari came from behind to win 2-1 at Genoa to move eight points clear of the drop zone.

Serie A

Atalanta 1
Denis 87;
Verona 2
Donati 53; Toni 72;

HT: 0-0. Att: 14,000.

Catania 2
Leto 45; Bergessio 63;
Sampdoria 1
Okaka 61;

HT: 1-0. Att: 14,000.

Chievo 0
Sassuolo 1
Berardi 41;

HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.

Fiorentina 0
Roma 1
Nainggolan 26;

HT: 0-1. Att: 20,000.

Genoa 1
De Maio 3;
Cagliari 2
Sau 37; Ibarbo 82;

HT: 1-1. Att: 20,000.

Juventus 1
Pogba 64;
Bologna 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 39,798.

Lazio 3
Mauri 42; Candreva 62p, 90;
Torino 3
Kurtic 52; Tachtsidis 67; Immobile 89;

HT: 1-0. Att: 32,000.
Red card: Novaretti (L) 79.

Milan 3
Balotelli 43; Taarabt 51; Pazzini 84;
Livorno 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 39,000.

Parma 0
Inter 2
Rolando 47; Guarin 89;

HT: 0-0. Att: 12,000.
Missed penalty: Cassano (P) 44.
Red card: Paletta (P) 46.

Udinese 1
Fernandes 54;
Napoli 1
Callejon 39;

HT: 0-1. Att: 14,000.
Red card: Fernandez (N) 89.

  P W D L F A Pts
Juventus 34 29 3 2 72 22 90
Roma 34 25 7 2 69 19 82
Napoli 34 20 8 6 64 36 68
Fiorentina 34 17 7 10 56 38 58
Inter 34 14 14 6 57 35 56
Parma 34 13 12 9 53 44 51
Milan 34 14 9 11 53 44 51
Torino 34 13 10 11 52 45 49
Lazio 34 13 10 11 47 47 49
Verona 34 15 4 15 52 58 49
Atalanta 34 14 4 16 39 46 46
Sampdoria 34 11 8 15 41 51 41
Genoa 34 10 9 15 37 45 39
Udinese 34 11 6 17 36 47 39
Cagliari 34 8 12 14 33 46 36
Chievo 34 8 6 20 30 50 30
Bologna 34 5 13 16 27 52 28
Sassuolo 34 7 7 20 33 62 28
Livorno 34 6 7 21 36 67 25
Catania 34 5 8 21 26 59 23

Top scorers
20 goals: Immobile (Torino).
18 goals: Tevez (Juventus), Toni (Verona).
17 goals: Higuain (Napoli).
15 goals: Palacio (Inter).
14 goals: Balotelli (Milan), Rossi (Fiorentina), Gilardino (Genoa), Llorente (Juventus).

Next fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Milan vs Roma.
Saturday: 18.00 Bologna vs Fioren-tina. 20.45 Inter vs Napoli.
Sunday: 12.30 Verona vs Catania. 15.00 Cagliari vs Parma; Livorno vs Lazio; Sampdoria vs Chievo; Udinese vs Torino. 20.45 Atalanta vs Genoa.
Monday: 20.45 Sassuolo vs Juve.

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