Carlos Tevez scored twice to help Juventus beat Hellas Verona 4-0 on Sunday and move five points clear at the top of Serie A.
Juventus beat Verona 6-1 in the Coppa Italia on Thursday and they appeared to be on course to better that result when Paul Pogba and Tevez put the defending champion 2-0 up inside seven minutes.
However, Verona goalkeeper Rafael kept the tide at bay until shortly after the hour mark when Roberto Pereyra and Tevez completed the scoring.
Photo: Reuters
SSC Napoli beat SS Lazio 1-0 to leapfrog the Rome side into third spot in Serie A, while UC Sampdoria remained firmly in the race for the final Champions League spot with a 2-0 win at Parma.
Napoli and Sampdoria moved onto 33 points, with Lazio two points behind. ACF Fiorentina are a point further back after Khouma Babacar’s last-gasp goal snatched a 2-1 win at AC Chievo Verona.
Genoa are on 28 points after coming back three times to rescue a 3-3 draw against US Sassuolo.
There was more disappointment for AC Milan, who lost 1-0 at home to relegation-threatened Atalanta BC.
Elsewhere, Udinese drew 2-2 at home to Cagliari, and Torino won 3-2 at bottom club AC Cesena.
Juventus knew they could reach the halfway point of the season with a significant advantage over second-placed AS Roma, who drew at US Citta di Palermo on Saturday.
It took less than two minutes to take the lead, with Pogba smashing a 25-yard thunderbolt into the bottom right corner.
Juventus rested Tevez and Andrea Pirlo for the cup match and the former made his mark in the seventh minute. Pogba’s dummy allowed Alvaro Morata’s cross through and Tevez curled it in.
The home fans had to wait until the 66th minute to see Juventus extend their lead when Pereyra collected a fantastic through ball from Giorgio Chiellini and lifted it over Rafael.
Tevez completed the scoring with his 13th goal of the season.
In the early kick-off, Gonzalo Higuain scored in the 18th minute, latching on to a delightful ball from Dries Mertens before unleashing a strike into the top near corner from a tight angle.
Lazio fought back and went close on several occasions, notably when Marco Parolo nodded a free-kick onto the crossbar.
Higuain could also have scored a second, but had an effort saved by Etrit Berisha before sending another inches wide of the left post.
In Parma, Sampdoria struggled, but finally broke the deadlock nine minutes into the second-half when Eder rolled the ball across from the right for Gonzalo Bergessio to tap in at the back post.
Sampdoria all but sealed the result in the 71st minute. Bergessio hit the post from Joseph Alfred Duncan’s cross and Roberto Soriano fired home the rebound.
Fiorentina looked to have lost ground in a riveting battle for third spot as it appeared to be heading for a draw in Verona, but Babacar headed Joaquin’s cross in at the far post in stoppage time to snatch all three points.
Joaquin also played a part in Fiorentina’s 35th-minute opener, as Nenad Tomovic nodded his cross back across goal for Gonzalo Rodriguez to tap in.
Sergio Pellissier leveled after Fiorentina missed several chances.
Genoa also needed a last-gasp goal, with Ioannis Fetfatzidis — who also scored his side’s second — converting a penalty in stoppage time after Francesco Magnanelli fouled Juraj Kucka.
Domenico Berardi also scored two, including a penalty, for Sassuolo.
Milan were whistled off the pitch after their second successive home defeat. Filippo Inzaghi’s men have won just one of their past six matches and visit Lazio next.
Alessio Cerci was handed his first league start after returning to Serie A from Atletico Madrid, but the former Torino star was replaced at halftime.
German Denis saw a shot deflected off the crossbar before scoring shortly after the half hour mark following more woeful defending from Milan, which allowed Maxi Moralez to set up his Argentine compatriot.
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