Juventus on brink of Serie A title

Come-from-behind 3-1 win keeps them eight points clear of second placed Roma

Juventus’s Carlos Tevez of Argentina, center, takes a shot that took a deflection and ended up in the back of the net

Juventus all but clinched its third successive Serie A title by coming from behind to win 3-1 on Monday at relegation-threatened Sassuolo in heavy rain.

Antonio Conte’s side moved eight points ahead of Roma with three rounds remaining. The two sides face each other in the penultimate match of the season, but Juventus is expected to seal the title next week when it plays Atalanta at home, where it has won all 17 of its league matches this season.

Juventus also remained on course to become the first Serie A club to reach the 100-point barrier.

Simone Zaza, who is co-owned by Juventus, gave Sassuolo a surprise lead in ninth-minute when he finished off an electric counterattack. Nicola Sansone raced downfield before setting up Zaza, whose effort took a slight deflection off Angelo Ogbonna to beat Gianluigi Buffon at the near post.

Juventus levelled in the 35th when Carlos Tevez collected the ball from Claudio Marchisio just outside the area and unleashed a fierce shot, which took a decisive deflection off Alessandro Longhi.

Claudio Marchisio fired Juventus ahead in front shortly before the hour mark after a chipped pass from Andrea Pirlo over the Sassuolo defence.

And Fernando Llorente sealed the result when he finished off Stephan Lichtsteiner’s cross with a delightful back heel from close range 14 minutes from time.