Two goals in the opening ten minutes propelled Juventus back to the top of the Italian Serie A after a comfortable 2-1 win over Roma at the Olympic Stadium last night.
After watching Inter stumbling to a 1-1 home draw to Atalanta on Saturday night, the onus was on Juventus to take maximum spoils in Rome and regain the initiative in this year’s title race.
The Bianconeri didn’t disappoint and were off to a headstart as Turkish midfielder Merih Demiral put them ahead with a firm volley after only three minutes of play.
Roma looked stunned and they had little time to settle down before Juventus doubled their lead.
The clock marked nine minutes when the visitors were awarded a penalty when Paulo Dybala was upended in the area by Jordan Veretout and Cristiano Ronaldo drilled the ball home.
The Giallorossi tried to force their way into the match but could only pull a goal back, courtesy of a Diego Perotti penalty conversion.
But the damage had already been done as Juventus managed to administer their advantage to take all three points that lifted them to the top of the standings on 48 points, two clear of Inter.
Lazio are third on 42 points but the capital club can still get into the title race provided they win their game in hand against Verona.
Earlier, Alejandro Berenguer struck the only goal as Torino beat Bologna to make it three wins in a week and close in on the Europa League places, as Sampdoria hammered relegation rivals Brescia 5-1.
Fiorentina got their first win since October against bottom club SPAL with German Pezzella scoring the only goal eight minutes from time.
Torino climb to seventh in the Serie A table, three days after being taken to penalties by Genoa before advancing to the Italian Cup quarter-finals.
Spaniard Berenguer finished off a cross from captain Andrea Belotti on 11 minutes as Torino move two points off sixth-placed Cagliari, who are in the last Europa League place.
Rodrigo Palacio missed two chances to equalise for Bologna with just the keeper to beat, leaving Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side in 12th position.
“Today’s victory is very important, because it gives us continuity,” said Belotti, after shocking Roma at the Stadio Olimpico last weekend.
Verona are two points behind Torino in eighth after snatching a 2-1 win over Genoa in a game which was delayed for 15 minutes in order to redo the uneven lines of the two penalty areas.
Wonky lines
A pitch inspection at Verona’s Stadio Bentegodi found that the lines marking the penalty box were visibly not straight.
Promoted Verona hit back after Antonio Sanabria had put Genoa ahead just before the break when he finished off a well-worked move created by Francesco Cassata in midfield.
Valerio Verre got the equaliser from the spot on 55 minutes after Cristian Romero brought down Mattia Zaccagni.
Zaccagni tapped in the winner 10 minutes later to leave Genoa in the relegation zone.
City rivals Sampdoria move five points clear of the drop zone with veteran striker Fabio Quagliarella scoring a brace in their thumping win over Brescia.
“We are starting to break away from the quicksand of the relegation zone, but it’s still there and we have to keep going,” said Ranieri, who next play title-chasing Lazio.
Jhon Chancellor nodded in after 12 minutes for Brescia.
But Karol Linetty volleyed in the equaliser on 34 minutes and provided the cross for Jakub Jankto to put the hosts ahead just before the break.
Last season’s top scorer Quagliarella gave Sampdoria a third from the spot for his first home goal this season, and added a second in injury time.
In Florence, Patrick Cutrone got his first start for Fiorentina since his move from Wolverhampton Wanderers this week, playing the final 15 minutes in the tight win over rock-bottom SPAL.
Pezzella struck later to give new coach Giuseppe Iachini his first win for 14th-placed Fiorentina who are now seven points above the drop zone.
Udinese beat Sassuolo 3-0 for their third consecutive victory to move level on points with Napoli in 11th position.
Stefano Okaka headed in after 14 minutes in Udine with Ivorian midfielder Seko Fofana providing the assists for Ken Sema and Rodrigo de Paul’s second-half goals.