Juventus on Friday went 10 points clear at the top of Serie A with a 4-1 win over struggling US Citta di Palermo in a perfectly timed boost ahead of their Champions League trip to Porto next week.
Former Palermo star Paulo Dybala played a pivotal role, as the Argentina international pushed his former employers closer to the drop by scoring twice, creating another and also seeing a free-kick come back off the woodwork.
“We ended the first half at 2-0, despite not playing well,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “It’s one game less to winning the Scudetto and I congratulate the players for the way they approached the game.”
Photo: AFP
Palermo started the day eight points from safety and they were under pressure almost from the start.
Dybala, who moved to Turin after three seasons at Palermo in 2015, was just centimeters from the opener after only five minutes, when he clipped the post with a left-footed free-kick.
However, the Sicilians’ resistance did not last, as Claudio Marchisio put Juventus ahead in the 13th minute, finding the net after goalkeeper Josip Posavec could only parry Gonzalo Higuain’s close-range shot.
Photo: AFP
At the other end, veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon got down low to keep out an attempt by Palermo top scorer Ilija Nestorovski from a tight angle.
It was a brief scare for the champions, who went into the break 2-0 ahead when Dybala curled in a picture-perfect free-kick, this time to the left of Posavec’s despairing dive and into the top corner.
Higuain added a third and his 19th league goal of the season in the 63rd minute, latching onto Dybala’s delicately weighted pass between two defenders.
Higuain repaid the favor to his international teammate one minute from time with a cheeky backheel allowing Dybala to slot the ball home.
Palermo scored an injury-time consolation through an Ivaylo Chochev header, but Juventus will go to Porto for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16, first-leg clash on a fresh wave of confidence.
LIGUE 1
AFP, PARIS
French Ligue 1 leaders AS Monaco on Friday had to come from behind to draw 1-1 away to SC Bastia in an unconvincing performance ahead of their impending Champions League showdown with Manchester City.
Sadio Diallo had given the struggling Corsicans the lead in the first half before Bernardo Silva headed Monaco level early in the second period.
The result maintains Monaco’s unbeaten record this year and extends their lead at the top of the table to four points from Paris Saint-Germain.
However, a buoyant PSG, fresh from their huge Champions League win over Barcelona, can close to within a single point of the principality side if they beat Toulouse at home today.
“Bastia were more aggressive than us and that was the difference,” Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim said. “We always play to win, of course, so this is a disappointment. Ligue 1 is not a training session, it’s a very important competition.”
Monaco had won their past nine top-flight meetings with Bastia and the Corsicans had gone seven matches without a win in all competitions coming into this one.
They remain in the relegation zone, but can be the happier side with the result, despite failing to hold onto the lead given to them by Diallo in the 18th minute.
Gael Danic crossed from the back post for Diallo to head toward goal at the back post. Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic got down low to claw the ball away, but goal-line technology confirmed the effort had already crossed the line.
A below-par Monaco drew level seven minutes into the second half, when Almamy Toure crossed from the right and Portugal international Silva stooped to head home.
However, they could not get the win ahead of their trip to Manchester to face Pep Guardiola’s side in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday.
LA LIGA
AP, BARCELONA, Spain
Colombia striker Adrian Ramos on Friday scored two goals for new team Granada to fuel their 4-1 rout of Real Betis Balompie in La Liga.
Ramos, who had not scored in his previous three matches for Granada, last month joined the Andalusian club on loan from Borussia Dortmund. That deal involved a future move to Chinese club Chongqing Dangdai Lifan that is to be formalized at the end of the season.
Granada and Chongqing Dangdai Lifan are both owned by Jiang Lizhang, a Shanghai-based businessman, who watched the match at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes while on a visit to the Spanish city.
After Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez’s opener in the 18th minute, Ramos headed in a second 10 minutes later after Hector Hernandez found him with a cross.
Andreas Pereira added a third goal before Ramos’ determined solo effort to finish off his own rebound put the result beyond doubt in the 64th.
“I am happy to score and help the team,” Ramos said. “We have to keep working to build on this.”
Both Granada’s Pereira and Betis’ Nahuel Leiva earned direct red cards in the 66th when they had a scuffle.
Petros Dos Santos scored Betis’ consolation goal in the 75th.
Granada, who started the match with 11 players of distinct nationalities, remained in the relegation zone.
However, things are looking up for the struggling team after back-to-back home wins following just one previous victory in the season.
Betis remained in 13th place and saw their winless streak reach five rounds.
BUNDESLIGA
AP, AUGSBURG, Germany
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez on Friday scored twice in a 3-1 win for Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Augsburg in the Bundesliga, easing the pressure on coach Roger Schmidt.
Despite a good 3-0 win over third-place Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, speculation continued during the week that Leverkusen were looking for a replacement for Schmidt after an inconsistent season so far.
Augsburg made the better start, but the visitors turned the game around with their quick-passing forwards and Karim Bellarabi broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute.
Julian Brandt and Chicharito combined before finding 17-year-old Kai Havertz to cross for Bellarabi from the right.
It was the first goal of the 21st round and the league’s 50,000th going back to 1963.
Koo Ja-cheol missed the chance to equalize in a one-on-one with Bernd Leno shortly afterward, and the home side rued the miss when Chicharito made it 2-0 five minutes before the break.
The Mexican striker feinted and waited for Augsburg goalkeeper Marvin Hitz to go to ground before firing to the far corner for his ninth of the campaign.
Koo set up Dominik Kohr for Augsburg to pull one back after an hour played, but any hopes of a comeback were dented when Chicharito claimed his second minutes later, set up with a brilliant pass from the impressive Havertz.
Leverkusen climbed to eighth before the rest of the round.
Schmidt’s ultimate fate likely hinges on the Champions League games against Atletico Madrid. Leverkusen host the Spanish side for their last-16, first-leg clash on Tuesday.
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