LONDON, Nov 11: Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba scored spectacular second-half goals as Juventus turned on the style to rout fellow Serie A title challengers Napoli 3-0 on Sunday while a Cesc Fabregas double helped Barcelona maintain their unbeaten start to the La Liga season with a 4-1 win at struggling Real Betis.

Fernando Llorente opened the scoring after less than two minutes for Juventus in somewhat controversial fashion before Pirlo and Paul Pogba secured the points.

Playmaker Pirlo fired a viciously dipping free kick over the Napoli wall from nearly 30 metres, then Pogba collected a pass, flicked the ball up and volleyed home from a similar distance beyond a bemused Pepe Reina 10 minutes from the whistle.

Juventus defender Angelo Ogbonna was sent off seven minutes from time following a second yellow card.

Napoli coach Rafael Benitez hinted that Llorente’s early goal had shell-shocked his side, but admitted he could not argue with the Bianconeri’s two other “quality” goals.

“When you concede a goal so quickly in this stadium, it’s never easy to get back into the match,” Benitez told Sky Sport Italia. “But in the second-half Juve scored two quality goals.”

ONE POINT

Juve’s victory helped them close the gap on the Serie A leaders AS Roma to one point and left their opponents trailing in third place.

Roma, who won their first 10 games, were held to a second successive 1-1 draw after conceding a 94th minute equaliser at the Olympic Stadium to lowly Serie A newcomers Sassuolo.

Sassuolo defender Alessandro Longhi’s own goal looked to have secured victory for Roma. But 19-year-old Domenico Berardi levelled with the last kick of the game.

Roma lead with 32 points from 12 games, with Juventus on 31 and Rafael Benitez’s Napoli on 28 after their second league defeat of the season.

“We are all in the race,” Pirlo said. “Roma are having a great season but we’re looking at ourselves. It went well because, after Roma drew we had to close the gap and we did that in the best of ways.”

Familiar routines continued at Fiorentina, where Giuseppe Rossi scored two more goals in a 2-1 win over troubled Sampdoria to move eight points behind Roma, while AC Milan’s struggles continued with a goalless draw at bottom club Chievo Verona which left them 19 points behind Roma and 15 off the first Champions League places.

MESSI INJURED

Barca shrugged off the loss of Lionel Messi to another hamstring injury to beat bottom side Betis and capitalise on a stumble by title rivals Atletico Madrid to move three points clear in La Liga.

Things looked grim for the defending champions when Messi suffered his third leg injury of the season and asked to be substituted in the 21st minute, as Barca came under pressure.

But midfielder Fabregas struck twice in the second-half after quick-fire goals from Neymar and Pedro in the 35th and 37th minutes had settled the champions.

“These games are important for me to be able to prove myself,” Fabregas told Spanish broadcaster Canal Plus. “I had a good game against Celta Vigo and then was out of the team for the best part of two games and this upsets you.”

Barca now have 37 points from 13 games ahead of second-placed Atletico, who were denied a couple of hours on the summit when Juanfran put the ball into his own net late on in a 1-1 draw at fourth-placed Villarreal, who also scored an own goal.

LATE GOALS

Elsewhere, Andre-Pierre Gignac scored a late penalty as Olympique Marseille beat strugglers Sochaux 2-1 in the Ligue 1 for their first win in eight games to move to fifth place with 21 points, two points behind fourth-placed Nantes, who won 3-0 at Bordeaux.

Olympique Lyon improved to seventh place after a dramatic last-gasp 2-1 win away to bitter local rivals St Etienne.

Meanwhile, Eric Choupo-Moting scored a late goal to lift Mainz 05 up to ninth in the Bundesliga with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt while VfB Stuttgart struck twice in two minutes with goals from Vedad Ibisevic and Timo Werner to beat Freiburg 3-1 and move up to eighth.—Agencies