Juve surpass Milan to top Serie A
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E-mail Xinhua, April 8, 2012
Juventus regained the top spot of the Serie A after they beat Palermo 2-0 while AC Milan lost to Fiorentina 2-1 at home on Saturday.
Leonardo Bonucci and Fabio Quagliarella found the net for the visitors in the second half of a one-sided game. The win put Juve one point clear of Milan in a two-horse race for the Scudetto which looks likely to go down to the wire.
Juventus head coach Antonio Conte preferred "to lead because that way you depend on nobody except yourself," and told Juventus they must work hard to stay top of Serie A.
"I always prefer to lead because that way you depend on nobody except yourself," he said.
"We did well to take advantage of Milan's two recent slip-ups. There are still seven rounds to go and we have a tougher fixture list, but we also gained belief and are improving day after day," he added.
Carvalho Amauri scored an 89th-minute winner as Fiorentina claimed a shock 2-1 win over AC Milan.
Amauri fired home from outside the box to secure three much- needed points for Delio Rossi's side whose unexpected victory lifted them five points clear of the relegation zone.
Milan had taken the lead, going ahead through Zlatan Ibrahimovic's penalty, only to be pegged back by Stefan Jovetic before Amauri's winner.
AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri said his side went the wrong way about the "unexpected" defeat.
"It was an unexpected defeat and a complicated game thanks to Fiorentina. We felt tired, but once we had taken the lead the equalizer came far too quickly," he said.
"There was too much haste in trying to win the game, so we went for long balls when I was asking for short passes. It's a shame that we lost, because now Juve have the chance to go in front, although there are still seven games to go," he said.
Inter Milan twice came from behind to force a 2-2 draw against mid-table Cagliari which kept the Nerazzurri in the hunt to salvage Europa League qualification from a miserable campaign.
Lazio moved back into third place and in line for the final Champions League qualification spot with a 3-1 victory over Napoli.
Napoli striker Goran Pandev's 34th-minute equaliser cancelled out Antonio Candreva's opener but Stefano Mauri spectacularly put Lazio back in front after the hour mark and Cristian Ledesma sealed the win from the penalty spot nine minutes from time.
The win allowed Lazio to leapfrog Udinese into third in the A table. The Biancoceleste are now three points clear of Udinese and four points above Napoli with seven games remaining.
Udinese boosted their hopes of securing European football next season with their first win in six games, 3-1 at home to Parma.
AS Roma's bid for a Champions League spot suffered a blow as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat at relegation-threatened Lecce.
The result at the Via del Mare stadium has left Roma in sixth place. Lecce, meanwhile, have kept alive their hopes of survival and are in 18th place, four points behind Genoa, who hold the last position of safety with seven games remaining.
Chievo beat 10-man Catania 3-2 in Verona to take a giant step towards safety.
Novara came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Genoa, although they could have had more at the Stadio Silvio Piola.
Bologna failed to make the most of their dominance as Serie A's bottom club held on for a 0-0 draw at Cesena.
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