Andrea Pirlo drove home a dramatic late winner as Serie A leaders Juventus secured a 2-1 victory over Torino in the Derby della Mole yesterday.
Lowly Torino were much the better side across town at the Juventus Stadium and, after going behind to an early Arturo Vidal penalty, hit back with a sensational goal on the run from Bruno Peres.
With a first derby win since 1995 within their grasp, the visitors turned the screw throughout the second half and were given a late boost when Juve full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner was sent off.
However, deep into stoppage time, Pirlo broke Torino fans’ hearts with a fiercely-driven winner.
Second-placed Roma kept pace with Juve thanks to Miralem Pjanic’s brace against Inter. The Giallorossi’s 4-2 success at the Stadio Olimpico inflicted Roberto Mancini’s first defeat since returning as Inter boss.
The sides were level at 1-1 at half-time, with goals from Gervinho and Andrea Ranocchia cancelling each other out.
Jose Holebas put Roma back in front just after the restart before Pablo Osvaldo netted against his former club.
That set the stage for Serbia international Pjanic to win it with two fine strikes.
Genoa lay third after continuing their impressive recent run with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over strugglers Cesena.
Genoa struck twice in the opening seven minutes through Alessandro Matri and Luca Antonelli to leave their low-scoring hosts with a mountain to climb.
Matri then missed a penalty before Nicolas Burdisso completed the scoring.
Jeremy Menez was the match-winner for Milan over Udinese, scoring both goals in a 2-0 success at the San Siro.
The France forward converted a 65th-minute penalty after Maurizio Domizzi’s dismissal and made the points safe with a fine individual goal 10 minutes later.
Nineteen minutes from time Michael Essien saw red for a second bookable offence but Filippo Inzaghi’s side were barely tested.
Bottom club Parma went down 2-1 at Palermo, with both sides having a man sent off.
Edgar Barreto was in the thick of the action, creating Palermo’s opener for Paulo Dybala, scoring the second and then getting sent off.
Raffaele Palladino had earlier equalised for Parma, who lost Felipe to two yellow cards.
Serie A
Cesena 0
Genoa 3
Matri 5; Antonelli 8; Volta 43og;
HT: 0-3. Att: 14,650.
Missed penalties: Matri (G) 30; Cascione (C) 63.
Cagliari 0
Fiorentina 4
Fernandez 17, 55; Gomez 69; Cuadrado 74;
HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.
Empoli 0
Atalanta 0
Att: 9,000.
Milan 2
Menez 65p, 75;
Udinese 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 36,300.
Red cards: Domizzi (U) 62; Essien (M) 71.
Palermo 2
Dybala 37; Barreto 73;
Parma 1
Palladino 40;
HT: 1-1. Att: 14,444.
Red card: Felipe (Parma) 80; Barreto (Palermo) 90.
Juventus 2
Vidal 15 pen; Pirlo 90;
Torino 1
Peres 22;
HT: 1-1. Att: 39,938.
Roma 4
Gervinho 22; Holebas 47; Pjanic 60, 90;
Inter 2
Ranocchia 36; Osvaldo 57;
HT: 1-1. Att: 41,701.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 5 | 34 |
| Roma | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 9 | 31 |
| Genoa | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 12 | 23 |
| Napoli | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 15 | 22 |
| Sampdoria | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 21 |
| Milan | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 23 | 17 | 21 |
| Lazio | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 20 |
| Fiorentina | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 11 | 19 |
| Udinese | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Sassuolo | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 18 |
| Inter | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 19 | 17 |
| Palermo | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 20 | 17 |
| Empoli | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 14 |
| Verona | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 22 | 14 |
| Torino | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 12 |
| Cagliari | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 24 | 11 |
| Atalanta | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 11 |
| Chievo | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 10 |
| Cesena | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 8 |
| Parma | 13 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 6 |
Playing today
Sampdoria vs Napoli - 20.45
Top scorers
9 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
8 goals: Callejon (Napoli).
7 goals: Icardi (Inter), Higuain (Napoli), Di Natale (Udinese), Menez (Milan).
Next Serie A fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Fiorentina vs Juventus.
Saturday: 18.00 Roma vs Sassuolo; 20.45 Torino vs Palermo.
Sunday: 12.30 Napoli vs Empoli. 15.00 Atalanta vs Cesena; Genoa vs Milan; Parma vs Lazio. 20.45 Inter vs Udinese.
Monday, Dec. 8: 19.00 Cagliari vs Chievo. 21.00 Verona vs Sampdoria.
Lega Pro
Group A: Albinoleffe vs Giana 0-3; Vicenza vs Torres 3-3; Feralpisalo vs Pro Patria 0-0; Renate vs Pavia 0-1; Venezia vs Bassano 1-2.
Group B: Savona vs Tuttocuoio 2-2; Carrarese vs Reggiana 1-3; L’Aquila vs Pistoiese 2-0; Gubbio vs San Marino 2-0.
Group C: Juve Stabia vs Savoia 2-1; Lupa Roma vs Salernitana 0-4; Barletta vs Aversa 0-0; Cosenza vs Ischia 3-1.