Reigning champions Juventus are certain to top Serie A at Christmas after a 3-1 win against Cagliari on Thursday in their final league game of the year.
Early strikes by Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal, before a Fernando Llorente counter in the second half put Juve out of sight before Luca Rossettini got a goal back for the hosts.
While Cagliari remain in the relegation zone after seeing their run without a win extended to eight games, Juve are now four points clear of nearest challengers AS Roma, who are due to host AC Milan in their final game of the year today.
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Juve’s match and SSC Napoli’s later 2-0 win against Parma were brought forward, as champions Juventus and Rafael Benitez’s Coppa Italia holders are to meet in Qatar on Monday in the Supercoppa Italiana.
Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve head into that game buoyed by a routine win in Sardinia following successive league draws against ACF Fiorentina and UC Sampdoria.
“I am fortunate to train a group of players that wants to win and continue amazing people. I have a lot of faith that this side can do well in Europe too,” Allegri said.
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Cagliari were the only team in Serie A still without a home win to their name and Zdenek Zeman’s side saw that run continue as they failed to recover from a terrible start.
The game was only in its third minute when the visitors opened the scoring at Stadio Sant’Elia, Tevez following up to score his 10th goal of the campaign after Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno had saved from Giorgio Chiellini.
Gianluigi Buffon then saved well from Albin Ekdal at the other end, but the Turin giants doubled their lead on 15 minutes thanks to a sumptuous Vidal strike.
When a low Patrice Evra cross from the left was only partially cleared by the home defense, the Chilean midfielder met the loose ball with a superb first-time curling shot into the right corner of the net.
Danilo Avelar fired into the side-netting late in the first half, but Cagliari had given themselves too much to do and Juve scored again five minutes after the restart when Llorente turned and shot inside the penalty area, his attempt squirming under the body of Cragno and in for his fourth goal of the campaign.
Cagliari got one back on 65 minutes when Rossettini stole half a meter on Vidal to head in a free-kick from the right wing at the far post, but that did not stop it being a good night for Allegri on his return to his old ground.
Allegri played for Cagliari in the 1990s and did well in two years there as coach before taking over at AC Milan in 2010.
Napoli moved into third place after a 2-0 win over rock-bottom Parma.
Colombia striker Duvan Zapata opened the scoring in the 19th minute for his fourth of the season, with Belgian Dries Mertens adding the second from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark.
Gonzalo Higuain had the ball in the net for Napoli in stoppage-time, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
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