Juventus maintained their unbeaten record in Serie A this season with a 2-0 win over Inter last night which takes them back to within four points of Milan at the top of the table.
Martin Caceres and Alessandro Del Piero scored the goals for the Bianconeri, who moved 18 points clear of their bitter rivals in the process.
Inter’s 12th defeat of the season leaves them in eighth place in the table, behind Catania and seven points away from a place in Europe next season, which is beginning to look increasingly unlikely for the 2010 Champions League winners.
The ongoing dispute over the Serie A titles in 2005 and 2006 has added further spice to the Derby d’Italia this season while the contrasting form of both teams made the stakes high at the Juventus Stadium.
The fact that former Juve coach Claudio Ranieri was sitting on the Inter bench was another ingredient and, fittingly, the show on the field lived up to the expectations with both sides showing a willingness to attack.
Antonio Conte made two changes early in the second half, first bringing Leonardo Bonucci on for Pepe, much to the home fans’ disapproval, but then sent Del Piero on for Matri.
Only three minutes later, Juve were in front.
Andrea Pirlo’s corner was met by Caceres, who was left all alone to head past Julio Cesar.
Del Piero’s impact on the game became even more tangible when he set up Mirko Vucinic, who was denied by Julio Cesar in the 70th minute.
The Juve club captain then doubled their lead with a shot into the far corner from Arturo Vidal’s assist.
Maicon saved Inter from further damage 10 minutes from time when he made a sliding tackle to deny Fabio Quagliarella from close range while Julio Cesar made two more spectacular saves to deny Giorgio Chiellini and Quagliarella as Juve threatened to run away with the game.
Earlier, Lazio put daylight between themselves and their Champions League rivals as a Mobido Diakite goal two minutes from time gave them a 1-0 win over Cagliari.
The crucial strike cemented the Romans in third place, three points ahead of Napoli and Udinese in the race for the final Champions League qualification position.
It was a dramatic turnaround as Napoli had looked to be about to leapfrog Lazio when they led Catania 2-0 with the Biancoceleste being held 0-0.
But Napoli conceded two quick goals from corners and Frenchman Diakite’s late strike turned things on their head.
The centre-back headed home a Cristian Ledesma free-kick at the back post.
As well as Napoli dropping points, Udinese drew 1-1 at Palermo on Saturday.
Napoli’s home draw was a blot on an otherwise positive week in which they had reached the Italian Cup final with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Siena.
Blerim Dzemaili and Edinson Cavani looked to have given them victory before Nicolas Spolli and Davide Lanzafame pegged them back.
The result left Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri furious.
“I’m very angry,” he said.
“We thought the game was over. We were feeble at 2-0. They could have finished off the game but we didn’t. Sometimes we’re naive, we’re children.”
It took Napoli’s unbeaten league run to nine games but they have drawn their last two.
Serie A
Atalanta 2
Gabbiadini 50; Tiribocchi 90;
Bologna 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 11,000.
Cesena 2
Santana 47; Nero 53;
Parma 2
Floccari 40; Paletta 61;
HT: 0-1. Att: 14,919.
Chievo 1
Acerbi 10;
Siena 1
Destro 51;
HT: 1-0. Att: 8,000.
Genoa 2
Belluschi 20; Palacio 89;
Fiorentina 2
Montolivo 31; Natali 70;
HT: 1-1. Att: 20,000.
Juventus 2
Caceres 57; Del Piero 71;
Inter 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 40,102.
Lazio 1
Diakite 88;
Cagliari 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 20,000.
Napoli 2
Dzemaili 61; Cavani 67;
Catania 2
Spolli 74; Lanzafame 85;
HT: 0-0. Att: 55,000.
Novara 0
Lecce 0
Att: 11,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Milan | 29 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 59 | 23 | 63 |
| Juventus | 29 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 46 | 17 | 59 |
| Lazio | 29 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 43 | 34 | 51 |
| Napoli | 29 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 54 | 32 | 48 |
| Udinese | 29 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 40 | 27 | 48 |
| Roma | 29 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 42 | 35 | 44 |
| Catania | 29 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 38 | 37 | 42 |
| Inter | 29 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 38 | 38 | 41 |
| Atalanta (-6) | 29 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 33 | 29 | 37 |
| Bologna | 29 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 31 | 35 | 36 |
| Palermo | 29 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 41 | 46 | 36 |
| Chievo | 29 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 36 |
| Cagliari | 29 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 36 | 34 |
| Genoa | 29 | 9 | 7 | 13 | 37 | 51 | 34 |
| Siena | 29 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 33 | 31 | 33 |
| Fiorentina | 29 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 35 | 33 |
| Parma | 29 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 35 | 46 | 32 |
| Lecce | 29 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 31 | 45 | 27 |
| Novara | 29 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 46 | 24 |
| Cesena | 29 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 47 | 18 |
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Catania vs Milan; 20.45 Parma vs Lazio.
Sunday: 12.30 Roma vs Novara. 15.00 Bologna vs Palermo; Cagliari vs Atalanta; Fiorentina vs Chievo; Inter vs Genoa; Lecce vs Cesena; Siena vs Udinese. 20.45 Juventus vs Napoli.
Top scorers
22 goals: Ibrahimovic (Milan).
19 goals: Di Natale (Udinese), Cavani (Napoli).
15 goals: Denis (Atalanta), Palacio (Genoa).
Prima Divisione ‘A’
Benevento vs Tritium 1-0; Como vs Taranto pp; Foggia vs Carpi 1-2; Monza vs Lumezzane 0-1; Pisa vs Foligno 2-0; Reggiana vs Avellino 1-0; Sorrento vs Viareggio 2-0.
Standings: Ternana 57; Taranto, Carpi 50; Pro Vercelli 48; Sorrento 46; Benevento 45; Lumezzane 39; Avellino 38; Pisa 37; Foggia 36; Tritium 35; Como, Reggiana 31; Monza 26; Viareggio, Spal 25; Pavia 24; Foligno 17.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Barletta vs Portogruaro 1-1; Bassano vs Andria 0-2; Carrarese vs Prato 0-0; Cremonese vs Frosinone 2-0; Latina vs Lanciano 1-3; Piacenza vs Siracusa 1-1; Spezia vs Feralpisalo 3-0; SudTirol vs Triestina 1-1; Trapani vs Pergocrema 0-0.
Standings: Trapani 54; Siracusa, Spezia 46; Lanciano 45; Cremonese 42; Per-gocrema 41; Carrarese, SudTirol 40; Barletta, Portogruaro 37; Frosinone, Triestina 33; Prato, Piacenza 30; Latina 29; Andria, F’pisalo 27; Bassano 23.