Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus: Tevez and Llorente fire Conte's side to the brink of the title

Juventus moved a step closer to retaining their Serie A title after coming from behind to beat Sassuolo 3-1 on Monday.

Simone Zaza handed the relegation-threatened hosts a shock lead after just nine minutes but Carlos Tevez rifled home an effort 10 minutes before the break to restore parity.

Claudio Marchisio's clever close-range finish put Juve in front just after half-time and Fernando Llorente's brilliant backheeled finish 15 minutes from time sealed victory for Antonio Conte's side at a rain-soaked Citta del Tricolore.

With three games now remaining, the champions now hold an eight-point lead over Roma, while Sassuolo remain above the drop zone only due to their superior head-to-head record with Bologna.

Victory for Juve is another step towards a third consecutive Scudetto and Conte's men will finish the job if they beat Atalanta at home in seven days' time, or if Roma fail to win at Catania 24 hours earlier.

Juve made an uncharacteristically slow start to the game and Nicola Sansone flashed a shot narrowly wide in the second minute before setting up the opening goal seven minutes later.

Sansone supplied strike partner Zaza, whose shot took a deflection off the foot of Angelo Ogbonna and skidded off the wet surface before creeping under the body of Gianluigi Buffon at the near post.

It took until the 22nd minute for Juve to muster a meaningful effort, Tevez firing a volley wide of the left-hand post after being teed up by Giorgio Chiellini.

It was Argentine Tevez who levelled matters 10 minutes before the break, finding a pocket of space on the edge of the box and unleashing a shot that whistled beyond Gianluca Pegolo via a slight deflection off Alessandro Longhi.

The hosts responded strongly, Zaza forcing a fine save out of Buffon at the near post as Sassuolo ended the first half with a flourish.

The home side's positivity was punctured 13 minutes after the interval, however, as Marchisio caressed a low finish beyond Pegolo after being picked out by Pirlo's deft chip over the Sassuolo backline.

Marchisio stung the palms of the goalkeeper 10 minutes later from Paul Pogba's lay-off, while Tevez struck the crossbar with a curling effort 13 minutes from time.

Juve did claim the third goal that their second-half dominance merited when Llorente turned home substitute Stephan Lichtsteiner's cross in the 76th minute with a delightful backheel.

Conte's focus will now shift to overturning a 2-1 deficit in Juve's Europa League semi-final second leg at home to Benfica on Thursday.

source: goal.com

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Roma 2-0 AC Milan: Pjanic & Gervinho end Rossoneri's run to keep title dream alive

The Bosnian opened the scoring after a scintillating run right through the heart of the Rossoneri defence but his Ivorian colleague punished poor handling from Christian Abbiati

Roma dented AC Milan's hopes of Europa League qualification as they cruised to a 2-0 win on Friday to keep the Serie A title race alive.

The Rossoneri headed into the game on the back of five straight wins, a run which has seen them move into seventh and within striking distance of a place in Europe's second-tier club competition.

But the visitors' winning streak was brought to an end by an impressive performance from Roma, which moves them within five points of leaders Juventus, who visit Sassuolo on Monday.

A draw or a defeat for Roma at the Stadio Olimpico would have handed Juve the chance to seal a third straight Scudetto, but goals from Miralem Pjanic and Gervinho kept the capital club's hopes intact for at least another week.

Pjanic opened the scoring in the 43rd minute for Rudi Garcia's side, highlighting a virtuoso midfield display with a breathtaking individual goal.

The visitors rarely threatened to equalise and Gervinho pounced on Christian Abbiati's error 20 minutes into the second half to wrap up the points and take their title fight a week further.

Unchanged from their 1-0 win at Fiorentina last week, the hosts had the better of a scrappy first half, full-back Dodo going close after 20 minutes when he volleyed over the bar from just inside the area.

Garcia's men continued to enjoy greater possession in the opening period and may have taken the lead if not for the defensive work of Adil Rami, who blocked a seemingly goal-bound effort from Pjanic after the Bosnian had skipped into the box.

However, the former Lyon man did find the net in spectacular fashion just before the half-time interval.

Having played a one-two with Francesco Totti midway inside the Milan half, Pjanic elegantly surged beyond Sulley Muntari, Riccardo Montolivo and Rami before coolly slotting past Abbiati.

Milan started the second half brightly and spurned a half-chance as Montolivo fired wide from Kaka's pull-back.

Pjanic remained a danger, though, and was denied a second as Abbiati produced a strong save after the 24-year-old had collected Totti's square pass from a free kick.

But the Milan goalkeeper was at fault as Roma doubled their lead, failing to handle a well-struck Totti effort and presenting Gervinho with the simple task of netting from two yards.

Clarence Seedorf's men offered little in the way of a replay as Roma eased to a comfortable win that plunges Milan's hopes of salvaging something from a disappointing season into doubt.

source: goal.com

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Udinese 0-2 Juventus: Giovinco and Llorente edge Bianconeri closer to title glory

Juventus are within touching distance of winning Serie A after goals from Giovinco and Fernando Llorente gave them a 2-0 win over Udinese.
A run of seven straight league victories has brought Roma back into title contention and, with Udinese unbeaten at the Stadio Communale Friuli since January, the scene was set for a potential upset on Monday.

However, Antonio Conte's men put in an assured performance and with just five games remaining it appears more a question of when rather than if Juventus will claim a third consecutive league title.

Sebastian Giovinco - making just his fourth league start this season - got the ball rolling in the 16th minute and Juve led by two at the break when Fernando Llorente grabbed his 14th top-flight goal of the campaign from close range.

Juventus failed to match their first-half standards after the interval, choosing instead to slow the pace of the game, though Giovinco almost had a second when he saw a shot rebound off the post.

With Carlos Tevez only among the substitutes due to a thigh problem, Giovinco was afforded a rare starting berth and he duly delivered the opener.

The forward collected the ball on the right-hand side of the box before skipping past Maurizio Domizzi and curling past Simone Scuffet with his left foot.

Giovinco then forced Scuffet into a near-post save and Juve doubled their lead from the resulting corner after 26 minutes.

Andrea Pirlo's delivery was flicked towards the back post by Claudio Marchisio and, after a bout of pin-ball in the area, Llorente provided the simple tap-in from six yards.

Udinese enjoyed a spell of possession at the end of the half but Juve dealt with the threat well, Giorgio Chiellini making one particularly fine interception from Antonio Di Natale's pass to deny Dusan Basta a run at goal.

The second half was played at a slow tempo, as Juventus were happy to sit back and maintain possession.

Giovinco was still proving a lively threat, though, and a quick turn of pace from the 27-year-old in the 66th minute led to him breaking into the box but his cross narrowly evaded the head of Llorente.

The Italy international was again in the thick of the action for Juve's next chance, showing good feet in the box before shooting against the post.

Substitute Luis Muriel also struck the woodwork at the other end but Juve recorded their 18th clean sheet in the league this season, meaning they could seal the title before travelling to Roma on May 9.

source: goal.com

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