Juventus extended their Serie A lead to 10 points after coming from behind to beat relegation-threatened Atalanta BC 2-1 on Friday.
Giulio Migliaccio put Atalanta ahead in the 25th minute, before two goals in quick succession from Fernando Llorente and Andrea Pirlo gave Juve a halftime lead.
Migliacco scored with a header off a corner, Llorente equalized from close-range in the 39th minute even though Carlos Tevez appeared offside and Pirlo scored the winner in the 45th with a long-range shot.
Photo: EPA
Juventus host Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday and needed a boost of confidence after drawing two of their three previous matches, but Pirlo’s spectacular winner aside, the three-time defending champions showed only glimmers of quality.
Paul Pogba was involved in a couple early chances for Juve, but the Turin side produced little in the second half, appearing content to try and hold on to their one-goal lead.
“Today, winning was the most important thing, even if we played poorly. We wanted to send a message to the league after the ugly game against [AC] Cesena and we did that and got three points,” Pirlo said, referring to last weekend’s 2-2 draw.
Juventus were shown a season-high five yellow cards.
Atalanta remained in 17th place, one spot and three points above the relegation zone.
BUNDESLIGA
Borussia Dortmund eased their relegation fears with a 3-2 win at bottom club VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Friday.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke the deadlock in the 25th minute, scooping the ball home after Japan international midfielder Shinji Kagawa helped it on following some good work from Marco Reus. A host of Stuttgart defenders proved ineffective.
Florian Klein equalized with a penalty in the 32nd minute, awarded after Nuri Sahin was adjudged to have felled Georg Niedermeier close to the goal-line.
Sahin was fortunate not to be sent off if deemed to have stopped a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
“I don’t know how the referee didn’t give a red card there,” Stuttgart sports director Robin Dutt said.
“Sometime these decisions are very strange,” he said.
Kawaga’s classy back-heel found Ilkay Gundogan to restore Dortmund’s lead with a low shot into the corner of the net in the 39th minute.
Reus pounced on a defensive lapse from Timo Baumgartl to seal the result after rounding the goalkeeper in the 89th. Niedermeier headed Stuttgart’s consolation in stoppage-time.
Stuttgart fans consoled the 18-year-old Baumgartl after the game.
Dortmund climbed to 10th ahead of the weekend’s matches with their third successive Bundesliga win.
“At least it’s nine points from three games. It’s the maximum, you can’t ask for more,” said Gundogan, who acknowledged that Dortmund were not yet fully clicking, before expressing sympathy for Stuttgart. “We were bottom ourselves a couple of weeks ago. It’s not a nice situation. The head is willing, but the body doesn’t respond.”
LIGUE 1
Substitute Bernardo Silva scored a late winner as 10-man AS Monaco geared up for their UEFA Champions League trip to Arsenal with a 1-0 win at local rivals OGC Nice in Ligue 1.
The Portuguese midfielder replaced Dimitar Berbatov in the 57th minute and scored his third league goal of the season with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area five minutes from time after defender Kevin Gomis clumsily gave the ball away.
“Winning the derby is always important, it gives us confidence for the match at Arsenal,” Silva said.
Leonardo Jardim’s side played the entire second half with 10 men after Aymen Abdennour was sent off for a high tackle on Romain Genevois’ thigh shortly before the halftime interval.
Monaco’s win was clouded by Layvin Kurzawa’s injury, with the leftback doubtful for Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16 game in London.
Kurzawa has already missed a big chunk of the season because of a hamstring injury, but Jardim gave reassuring news about the defender immediately after the match.
“I think he will be able to return to training after a couple of days of care,” he said.
The win provisionally lifted Monaco into fourth place on 43 points, with Nice in ninth on 34.
Nice failed to score for a fourth straight game and slumped to their first league defeat this year.
LA LIGA
Forward Pablo Sarabia scored one goal and set up another to help Getafe beat RCD Espanyol 2-1 in La Liga on Friday.
Getafe outplayed the visitors until the final minutes as Spain coach Vicente del Bosque watched from the stands at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.
Sarabia sprinted forward to volley home Alexis Ruano’s cross for the 33rd-minute opener. He then skillfully dribbled by centerback Hector Moreno, before passing for Alvaro Vazquez to fire in the home side’s second in the 57th.
“I didn’t have a lot of room and had to find a way between two defenders, but it worked out well,” Sarabia said. “I’m just happy Alvaro could put it in.”
Espanyol, who were missing regular starters Sergio Garcia and Victor Sanchez due to suspension, reacted late, with substitute Anaitz Arbilla scoring from long range in the 89th minute.
Getafe’s third straight home win under new coach Quique Sanchez Flores lifted them into 11th place.
“This is a big step, so we can face the rest of the season more calmly and try to keep getting points to ensure we stay up,” Sarabia said.
The defeat left Espanyol in eighth place, as they wasted a chance to close in on the UEFA Europa League positions.
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