Juventus inches closer to scudetto

Napoli squanders lead twice against Torino; AC Milan climbs back into Europa League places

May 06, 2018 09:44 pm | Updated May 07, 2018 03:40 pm IST - Milan

Crucial strike: Sami Khedira scores Juventus’ second goal against Bologna on Saturday.

Crucial strike: Sami Khedira scores Juventus’ second goal against Bologna on Saturday.

Juventus has the champagne on ice after Napoli was held to a 2-2 draw by Torino on Sunday to all but mathematically hand the Bianconeri their seventh successive Serie A title.

Napoli is six points behind Juventus with two matches remaining. The two sides have the same head-to-head record which is the next deciding factor but Juventus has a significantly better goal difference of plus 16.

Juventus can mathematically secure the title at Roma next weekend.

After Juventus beat Bologna on Saturday, Napoli knew it needed a victory to keep the title race alive.

Dries Mertens and substitute Marek Hamsik scored for the hosts but Torino replied each time with goals from Daniele Baselli and Lorenzo De Silvestri.

Earlier on Saturday, Douglas Costa sparked an emphatic comeback as Juventus recovered from a goal down to beat Bologna 3-1.

Juventus entered the game in Turin with a four-point lead over chasing Napoli but fell behind to a first-half penalty from Bologna’s Simone Verdi.

However, an own goal from visiting defender Sebastien De Maio on 52 minutes allowed Juventus to draw level before Costa supplied Sami Khedira and then Paulo Dybala for two quick goals to seal the victory.

Juventus’s six-year reign in Italy looked under threat a fortnight ago when Napoli snatched a dramatic 1-0 win over Massimiliano Allegri’s side, but last week’s late heroics in Milan left the Turin giant once again in charge of the title race.

Earlier, AC Milan climbed back into the Europa League places with a 4-1 home win over Verona that consigned the visitors to an immediate return to Italy’s second division.

The results: Serie A: Udinese 0 lost to Inter Milan 4 (Ranocchia 12, Rafinha 43, Icardi 45+1, Borja Valero 71); Lazio 1 (F. Caicedo 24) drew with Atalanta 1 (Barrow 2); SPAL 2 (Paloschi 25, Antenucci 83-pen) bt Benevento 0; Chievo 2 (Birsa 12, Stepinski 82) bt Crotone 1 (Tumminello 90+4); Genoa 2 (Rossi 64, Lapadula 68) lost to Fiorentina 3 (Benassi 43, Eysseric 77, Dabo 80); Napoli 2 (Mertens 25, Hamsik 71) drew with Torino 2 (Baselli 55, De Silvestri 83).

Premier League: Manchester City 0 drew with Huddersfield 0.

Saturday: Serie A: AC Milan 4 (Calhanoglu 10, Cutrone 32, Abate 49, Borini 89) bt Verona 1 (Lee 84); Juventus 3 (De Maio 52-og, Khedira 63, Dybala 69) bt Bologna 1 (Verdi 30-pen).

La Liga: Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 76, Aduriz 90+2) bt Real Betis 0; Celta Vigo 1 (Gomez 13) drew with Deportivo la Coruna 1 (Perez 90+1); Villarreal 1 (Gaspar 86) bt Valencia 0.

Premier League: Everton 1 (Davies 90+5) drew with Southampton 1 (Redmond 56).

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