Juventus’ Ghanaian midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah celebrates after scoring against Fiorentina in their Serie A clash yesterday. (AFP)
AFP/Turin
A first-half strike from Juventus winger Kwadwo Asamoah secured a 1-0 win over Fiorentina and stretched the champions’ lead over nearest rivals Roma to 14 points yesterday.
Second-placed Roma, who have a game in hand, travel to Napoli later looking to reduce the arrears and stretch their six-point lead over Rafael Benitez’s side.
But on this performance, Roma will have to hope Juventus—who face Fiorentina home and away in the Europa League in the next 11 days—suffer a major slip-up on what looks like a clear path towards a third consecutive scudetto.
Frenchman Paul Pogba said Juve’s 14th home win of the season had sent a message to their rivals. “It was a crucial match for us and an even more important win in terms of the league title,” Pogba said.
Juve coach Antonio Conte hailed his side’s performance but admitted they breathed a sigh of relief when Ryder Matos’s header came back off Gianluigi Buffon’s crossbar in the closing minutes.
“We played really well in the first half and in the second things slowed down a little, also because players were tired from the midweek international friendlies,” said Conte. “We gifted Fiorentina a chance to level late on but thankfully we resisted and came out of it pretty well.”
Claudio Marchisio stepped into Andrea Pirlo’s deep-lying midfield role as the Italy veteran served a one-match ban, while Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente, who have scored 26 league goals between them, led the Bianconeri attack against Vincenzo Montella’s men.
Fiorentina had handed Juve their only defeat of the season, a 4-2 comeback win in Florence last October, but had only one win in their last 21 visits to Turin.
“We played really well in the first half and in the second things slowed down a little, also because players were tired from the midweek international friendlies. We gifted Fiorentina a chance to level late on but thankfully we resisted and came out of it pretty well”
Montella admitted Juve had set the agenda, and his side had failed to adapt.
“When you play against Juventus, a lot depends on how they set up,” he said. “We were better in the second half when we played higher up the park, but it wasn’t the game we had set out to play.”
The two teams are to meet on the next two Thursdays in the Europa League round of 16.
Other afternoon action saw Inter Milan edge Torino 1-0 from a header by Rodrigo Palacio and go one point behind Fiorentina.
Sixth-place Parma won 2-0 against surprise newcomers Verona, Atalanta beat 10-man Lazio 1-0, and troubled Chievo won 2-1 over Genoa.
Sampdoria rallied to win 4-2 against struggling Livorno, who took led 2-0 lead from an Ibrahima Mbaye brace, and Bologna drew 0-0 with bottom side Sassuolo.
On Saturday, Udinese veteran Antonio Di Natale scored a second-half winner to stun AC Milan 1-0 and second-last Catania drew 1-1 at home to 10-man Cagliari.
