Juve stride towards title

ROME – Juventus opened up a six-point lead at the top of Serie A as Napoli could only manage a goalless draw in Milan. The Champions League spots meanwhile hotly contested after draws for Inter and in the capital.

 Juventus bounced back from their midweek disappointment to take a comfortable 3-0 victory off Sampdoria. Douglas Costa assisted all three goals in a dominant performance. The Turin side have only dropped four points in the league since mid Nov and their charge towards a seventh successive title now seems difficult to derail.

 SPAL were able to halt Fiorentina’s storming run of six consecutive victories. Neither team succeeded in finding the back of the net but the point will be extremely valuable to SPAL who end the week one point above relegation.

 Inter Milan failed to capitalise on the result of the Rome Derby. Without victory in their last three games, the Milan side are still just one point off fourth but may rue wasted opportunity to cement a Champions League place.

 AC Milan and Napoli were both left frustrated following a 0-0 draw at the San Siro. The goalkeepers were constantly tested at both ends whilst Nikola Kalinic missed a glaring opportunity early on for Milan. Lorenzo Insigne looked dangerous all afternoon but was unable to find a way past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

 Napoli have now only mustered two wins in their last six league games and their title hopes appear to be fading fast. Three points against Udinese on Wednesday is absolutely essential to set them up for a trip to Juventus in a title showdown this weekend.

 Towards the bottom of the table, Cagliari heaped further agony on Udinese with a 2-1 win. Nine consecutive defeats make grim reading for Udinese fans who haven’t seen their team manage a single point since the beginning of Feb.

 A draw for Benevento leaves them on the brink of their inevitable relegation. Sassuolo will be disappointed by the outcome which should have bolstered their cushion above the relegation zone, although they now sit four points above the drop. Chievo follow close behind after a goalless draw against Torino.

 Crotone and Verona, however, both fell to defeats away from home and find themselves in major trouble at the bottom end of the table. A first half goal from Daniel Bessa was enough to hand Genoa three points against Crotone whilst Verona slumped to a 2-0 loss against Bologna.

 The Derby della Capitale ended goalless; Bruno Peres went closest, striking the post before half time whilst Stefan Radu was sent off towards the end of a fiery encounter at the Stadio Olimpico.

 

Cagliari 2-1 Udinese

Chievo 0-0 Torino

Genoa 1-0 Crotone

Atalanta 0-0 Inter Milan

Fiorentina 0-0 SPAL

Bologna 2-0 Verona

AC Milan 0-0 Napoli

Sassuolo 2-2 Benevento

Juventus 3-0 Sampdoria

Lazio 0-0 Roma

 

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