Bernardeschi keeps Juve on Napoli’s heels

Published January 8, 2018
ROME: AS Roma’s Patrick Schick (R) vies for the ball with Atalanta’s Leonardo Spinazzola during their Serie A match at the Stadio Olimpico.—AFP
ROME: AS Roma’s Patrick Schick (R) vies for the ball with Atalanta’s Leonardo Spinazzola during their Serie A match at the Stadio Olimpico.—AFP

MILAN: Fernando Bernardeschi scored the only goal as champions Juventus kept Serie A leaders Napoli in their sights with a 1-0 win over Cagliari in Sardinia on Saturday.

Bernardeschi’s second-half goal gave Juve the victory in a bruising match which saw the Turin side lose Paulo Dybala to injury.

Napoli cemented their position in top spot before the delayed two-week winter break after seeing off relegation-threatened Hellas Verona 2-0.

Napoli took over an hour to break through against Verona before Kalidou Koulibaly and Jose Callejon scored as they stayed one point clear of Juve.

Juve have won the title in each of the last six seasons, while Napoli are bidding for their first since 1990.

“We know that Juve has years of experience,” Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. “We know they can easily surpass the 90-point mark, while we can’t say the same thing about us.

“But we also have players who can make the difference in matches, such as Callejon and [Lorenzo] Insigne ... our job is only to put them in the best conditions to express themselves.”

AS Roma could have moved level with third-placed Inter Milan but lost 2-1 at home to Atalanta and are fifth and Ciro Immobile scored four goals in Lazio’s 5-2 rout of SPAL.

Elsewhere, bottom club Benevento, who failed to win in their first 18 games, made it two in a row by beating Sampdoria 3-2 while Torino’s new coach Walter Mazzarri enjoyed a winning start as they beat Bologna 3-0.

Napoli lead with 51 points from 20 games ahead of Juve. Inter, winless in their last five league games after Friday’s 1-1 draw at Fiorentina, are on 42 points while Lazio moved up to fourth (40) ahead of Roma (39).

After playing over the festive period for the first time, Serie A will resume on January 21.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2018

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