Juventus maintained its charge to a third successive Serie A title as it won 1-0 at 10-man Catania in a fiery match in Serie A on Sunday.
Carlos Tevez scored the only goal of the game to take him level with Torino striker Ciro Immobile at the top of the scoring charts.
Catania was forced to play with 10 men for much of the second half after Gonzalo Bergessio was dismissed following a second booking. Both coaches were also sent to the stands for protests during the first period.
Juventus restored its 14-point lead over Roma, which has a game in hand.
“I think the referee wanted to give a warning to the players, by sending off the managers and calming things down a bit,” Conte said. “The match was very heated and we were good to keep a cool head.
“I am very proud of the lads. We are playing at extraordinary levels, but we have to give credit to Roma, which is doing something incredible. So we have to stay awake because nothing is over and decided yet.”
Earlier, Fiorentina snatched a late 1-0 win at 10-man Napoli to boost its chances of sneaking into the Champions League. Inter Milan is four points further back after a last-minute goal consigned it to a 2-1 loss at home to Atalanta. Parma is level, but with a game in hand, after it drew 1-1 with Genoa in the lunchtime kickoff.
“It was the perfect day, seeing as we opened up a gap on those behind us and got closer to third spot,” Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella said.
“It will be difficult to reach because Napoli is strong and has a big advantage. But we’ll try right until the end.”
