[attach id=242039 size="medium"]Juve’s Mirko Vucinic (left) blocked by Diego Perez.[/attach]
Juventus opened a 12-point lead at the top of the standings last night after beating Bologna 2-0 away to move a step closer to a second successive Serie A title.
Mirko Vucinic opened the scoring on 61 minutes after breaking free of his marker inside the box before placing the ball inside the net, his shot slipping past goalkeeper Gianluca Curci and into the net.
Bologna had their own chances to break the stalemate before Vucinic’s opener but when Claudio Marchisio doubled the visitors’ lead 17 minutes from time it was all over for the hosts who relied most of their attacking moves on Italy international Alessandro Diamanti and veteran striker Alberto Gilardino.
Diamanti found space early on but failed to find the net from an inviting position and Sebastian Giovinco was also close to giving Juve the lead but the scoresheet remained blank until half-time.
Giovinco hit just wide and Gilardino had a goal disallowed for offside before Vucinic beat Curci after an inviting ball by Marchisio.
Bologna lost most of their composure and Marchisio dashed the home team’s hopes with a second goal from an acute angle.
Earlier in the evening, Catania won the battle of two clubs looking to jump on the train for a place in Europe next season, downing Udinese 3-1 in Sicily.
All four goals arrived in the second half with Alejandro Gomez on target twice and Francesco Lodi scoring for the home side, and Luis Muriel netting a consolation for the visitors.
The win lifted Catania to within two points of the top five heading into the last nine games of the season, giving the Sicilians a realistic hope of taking a place in the Europa League next season.
The first half was practically a non-starter with a very slow pace to a game which dragged on without any drama to the end of 45 minutes.
Something had to change in the second half, and it was Catania’s Argentinian duo of Gomez and Lucas Castro who brought some much-needed creativity to the match.
They combined to open the scoring with a neat one-two setting up Gomez to beat Zeljko Brkic with a shot which went in off the inside of the post.
The same combination linked up once again in the 67th minute with Castro crossing from the goal line back to Gomez, who headed in from six yards out.
Less than five minutes later, Lodi wrapped up victory with one of his trademark free-kicks, his shot from 25 yards dipping in under the crossbar.
Udinese were beaten, but they found a consolation goal with Muriel rewarding himself for an excellent personal performance with a low shot into the bottom corner in the 81st minute.