Skip to content

Serie A round-up: Juventus strengthen position at top of Serie A with victory over Pescara

Gonzalo Higuain scored against former club Napoli in Juventus' 3-1 Coppa Italia win
Image: Gonzalo Higuain scored twice to help Juventus beat Pescara

Juventus extended their lead at the top of Serie A after they eased to a 2-0 victory at Pescara to strengthen their grip on a sixth successive Scudetto title.

A first-half brace from Gonzalo Higuain was enough for the league leaders to seal all three points - a result that leaves Pescara 12 points from safety with six matches to play at the bottom of the table.

AC Milan defender Cristian Zapata scored with the last kick of the match to snatch a point from arch-rivals Inter in a pulsating 2-2 derby draw.

Milan dominated the early exchanges, but trailed 2-0 at the break following strikes from Antonio Candreva and Mauro Icardi in the last nine minutes of the first half.

Alessio Romagnoli prodded in eight minutes from time to give Rossoneri hope of a comeback before Zapata pounced on a Manuel Locatelli header to volley home in the seventh minute of stoppage time and claim an unlikely point to remain two points ahead of Nerazzurri in sixth.

Roma slipped eight points behind Juventus in second place after being held to a 1-1 home draw by high-flying Atalanta.

Atalanta took the lead when Andrea Conti's left-wing cross was met by a thunderous volley from Jasmin Kurtic, leaving Wojciech Szczesny static.

Also See:

Edin Dzeko tapped into an empty net to equalise five minutes into the second half, but could not get a winner as Giallorossi suffered a blow to their slim title chances while the visitors stay in fifth.

Luis Alberto scored a stoppage-time equaliser to earn Lazio a valuable point in their hunt for European football after drawing 2-2 at Genoa.

Giovanni Simeone headed the hosts ahead, but Luca Biglia equalised on the stroke of half-time after he tapped home the rebound to his saved penalty.

Goran Pandev's header squeezed past Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha to put Genoa back in front before Alberto fired into the bottom corner in the first minute of added time.

A stoppage-time penalty from Manuel Pasqual moved Empoli five points clear of the relegation zone following a 2-1 success at Fiorentina.

Omar El Kaddouri put the visitors ahead at the break, but Cristian Tello levelled with a fine finish halfway through the second half before Pasqual's late spot-kick winner.

Joao Pedro scored a brace for Cagliari as they stormed to a 4-0 win over Chievo, with Marco Borriello and Marco Sau also getting on the scoresheet.

A late Simy goal cancelled out Andrea Belotti's penalty to earn a 1-1 draw for relegation-threatened Crotone at Torino while it remained goalless in the match between Palermo and Bologna, with Erick Pulgar seeing red in the first half for the visitors.

Sassuolo ended a seven-match winless streak after they came from behind to beat Sampdoria 2-1.

Sampdoria took the lead in fortuitous fashion when Matias Silvestre's long-range effort deflected off team-mate Patrik Schick and wrong-footed goalkeeper Andrea Consigli before bouncing into the bottom corner.

Antonino Ragusa levelled four minutes after the break with a composed finish when he latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Lorenzo Pellegrini before Francesco Acerbi sealed a much-needed win by heading home Pellegrini's corner from close in.

In the late kick-off, Dries Mertens, Allan and Jose Callejon scored as Napoli turned on the style in a classy second-half performance that left Udinese struggling to respond.

After a first half of missed chances for the San Paolo giants, Mertens broke the deadlock with a fine strike on the run from the edge of the area three minutes into the second period.

Brazilian midfielder Allan won plaudits from all his teammates when he raced to a loose ball to beat Orestis Karnezis on the hour.

Spanish forward Callejon completed the win with Napoli's third on 72 minutes, although Maurizio Sarri's men could have had more.

Around Sky