Juventus made a significant step towards clinching their first Serie A title in 7 years with a resounding 4-0 win over AS Roma at the Juventus Stadium to move 3 points clear at the top of the Serie A table.
Juve’s win stretches their unbeaten run in the league to 33 which matches Fiorentina’s record set in the 1955/56 season and just one short of Milan’s leading record of 34 set back in the 1991/1992 season.
Juventus who could not have been any happier at hearing news of Milan stumble at home to Bologna in the day’s earlier kick off got on the score sheet within just minutes of the opening moments of the game with Arturo Vidal grabbing a brace inside of 8 minutes.
The Bianconeri were 3-0 up at the half hour mark thanks to former Milan play maker Andrea Pirlo after sending his spot kick past Gianluca Curci after Claudio Marchisio’s had been fouled by first choice goal keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
Speaking after the match, Juventus coach Antonio Conte was delighted with the win that extended their lead at the top of the table.
“We have to look only at ourselves. We are in front right now and therefore our fate is in our hands. We don’t need to pay attention to how the other teams are doing,” Conte said.
“We’ve already secured direct access to the Champions League with five rounds to go, which is an excellent objective. This project is going quicker than expected and enables us to experience this dream, which includes the Coppa Italia final.”
I have to admit, that i am happy that Juve is back in the Champions League. Having opened up a gigantic 17 points gap between themselves and third placed Lazio, and with their remaining fixtures coming in the form of Cessena, Novara, Lecce, Cagliari and Atalanta, the scudetto is Juve’s to lose.
That said, Roma coach Luis Enrique found himself with a lot of explaining to do after choosing to bench his skipper Francesco Totti.
“I did not see it as a risk. Don’t forget Totti was playing in the Coppa Italia game here and we lost 3-0. It’s too easy to talk about decisions afterwards. Juventus have great quality and physicality, so I thought it was best to adopt a more physical approach and reserve Totti for the next game.” he said.
Roma’s loss sees them stay 6th on the table standings with 50 points.
