Carlos Tevez scored a stunning goal as Serie A leaders Juventus beat Torino 1-0 yesterday to continue an extraordinary dominance of their neighbours.
Torino, who have not scored in the last 10 meetings with Juventus and have failed to beat their rivals since 1995, were furious at having a late penalty appeal turned down while the hosts notched their 13th straight home win in the league this season.
Sampdoria were also fuming after losing 2-0 at home to Milan and Inter coach Walter Mazzarri joined the chorus of discontent after his team were held 1-1 at home by lowly Cagliari.
Juve’s win kept them nine points clear of Roma, who won 1-0 at Bologna on Saturday, and on course for a third successive title.
Juve have 66 points with Roma on 57 and Napoli a further seven back in third.
Tevez scored the only goal on the half hour when the Argentine brilliantly controlled Kwadwo Asamoah’s pass and fired a low shot into the net on the turn.
Torino were by no means outplayed and believed they should have had a penalty when Omar El Kaddouri appeared to be tripped by Andrea Pirlo 10 minutes from time.
New signings Adel Taarabt and Adil Rami scored for ninth-placed Milan but Sampdoria were angered by the second goal, claiming Giampaolo Pazzini had impeded goalkeeper Junior da Costa.
The hosts were even more incensed soon after when striker Eder was upended by Milan keeper Marco Amelia in the penalty area.
The referee judged that Amelia got the ball before making contact with Eder although television replays were inconclusive.
Sampdoria substitute Maxi Lopez was given two yellow cards in quick succession amid the protests and was sent off after only 16 minutes on the pitch.
Despite his players’ anger, Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic shepherded them away from the referee at the end and refused to criticise the officials.
“I don’t comment on refereeing decisions,” the Serb told reporters.
“Sometimes they go for you, sometimes they don’t. We deserved to lose today and I don’t want excuses. Maxi Lopez’s red card makes me very angry, my player cannot get himself sent off like that,” added Mihajlovic.
Fifth-placed Inter (40 points) needed a second-half equaliser from Rolando for a share of the spoils after Chile forward Mauricio Pinilla had put Sardinians Cagliari in front with a penalty five minutes before half-time.
Mazzarri said Inter should have had a penalty for a foul on Mauro Icardi.
“It was a clear foul. How can I stay quiet? It was absolutely obvious,” he added.
Bosko Jankovic, Romulo and Luca Toni scored in a 12-minute spell before half-time for sixth-placed Verona at Livorno who replied through Paulinho and Leandro Greco midway through the second half but went down 3-2.
Antonio Di Natale’s penalty gave Udinese a 1-1 draw at home to Atalanta while Lazio beat bottom-placed Sassuolo 3-2 in the late kick-off.
Serie A
Chievo 2
Thereau 37 pen; Rigoni 68;
Catania 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 11,000.
Inter 1
Rolando 51;
Cagliari 1
Pinilla 40 pen;
HT: 0-1. Att: 48,000.
Juventus 1
Tevez 30;
Torino 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 40,292.
Lazio 3
Radu 36; Klose 74; Candreva 83;
Sassuolo 2
Floccari 72; Floro Flores 79;
HT: 1-0. Att: 41,000.
Livorno 2
Paulinho 72; Greco 73;
Verona 3
Jankovic 33; Romulo 43; Toni 45;
HT: 0-3. Att: 10,000.
Sampdoria 0
Milan 2
Taarabt 12; Rami 58;
HT: 0-1. Att: 22,000.
Red card: Lopez (S) 72.
Udinese 1
Di Natale 71 pen;
Atalanta 1
Brivio 24;
HT: 0-1. Att: 13,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 25 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 60 | 19 | 66 |
| Roma | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 49 | 11 | 57 |
| Napoli | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 49 | 27 | 50 |
| Fiorentina | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 43 | 26 | 44 |
| Inter | 25 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 43 | 29 | 40 |
| Verona | 25 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 43 | 42 | 39 |
| Parma | 23 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 36 | 27 | 36 |
| Torino | 25 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 39 | 32 | 36 |
| Milan | 25 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 39 | 35 | 35 |
| Lazio | 25 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 33 | 34 | 35 |
| Genoa | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 27 | 31 | 31 |
| Udinese | 25 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 29 | 36 | 28 |
| Sampdoria | 25 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 37 | 28 |
| Atalanta | 25 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 25 | 37 | 28 |
| Cagliari | 25 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 23 | 35 | 25 |
| Chievo | 25 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 19 | 35 | 21 |
| Bologna | 25 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 41 | 21 |
| Livorno | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 45 | 20 |
| Catania | 25 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 19 | 43 | 19 |
| Sassuolo | 25 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 25 | 54 | 17 |
Playing today
Parma vs Fiorentina - 19.00
Napoli vs Genoa - 21.00
Top scorers
14 goals: Rossi (Fiorentina), Tevez (Juventus).
13 goals: Toni (Verona), Immobile (Torino).
12 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Berardi (Sassuolo).
Next fixtures
Saturday: 20.45 Roma vs Inter.
Sunday: 12.30 Cagliari vs Udinese. 15.00 Atalanta vs Chievo; Genoa vs Catania; Sassuolo vs Parma; Torino vs Sampdoria; Verona vs Bologna. 18.30 Livorno vs Napoli. 20.45 Milan vs Juventus; Fiorentina vs Lazio.
Prima Divisione ‘A’
Venezia vs Carrarese 1-2; AlbinoLeffe vs Reggiana 1-0; Pro Vercelli vs Como 1-1; FeralpiSalo vs Pavia 4-2; Pro Patria vs Vicenza 1-1; Savona vs San Marino 0-0; Lumezzane vs Cremonese 0-1; Entella vs SudTirol 2-0.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Perugia vs Benevento 0-0; Viareggio vs Salernitana 0-5; Gubbio vs Lecce 1-2; Ascoli vs Catanzaro 0-1; L’Aquila vs Barletta 2-0; Pontedera vs Frosinone 2-1; Paganese vs Pisa 0-1.