Lazio close in on Juventus
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E-mail Xinhua, January 14, 2013
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Andrea Pirlo was fouled in a Serie A match between Juventus and Parma on Jan.13, 2013. |
Juventus had their lead at the top of Serie A slice to three points after they drew 1-1 at Parma while Lazio beat Atalanta 2-0 on Sunday.
Juvetus, following their last weekend's surprise loss to Sampdoria, were desperate to beat Parma in order to maintain their five-point lead over second-placed Lazio.
Andrea Pirlo put the visitors ahead with a fortuitous free-kick just after the break, but Nicola Sansone rescued a deserved point for Parma after he intercepted Mirko Vucinic's dummy to dance behind the Juve backline to level the tie.
Juventus head coach Antonio Conte said he was responsible for Sansone's goal.
"The goal was my fault, because I called the dummy when Vucinic was on the one-on-one," said Conte.
"Juventus deserved to win considering everything we did today, but were playing against a tough side and give credit to Parma," he said.
Lazio narrowed the gap with Juventus to three points with a hard-earned victory over 10-man Atalanta at the Stadio Olimpico.
A controversial finish from Sergio Floccari and Davide Brivio's own-goal saw Lazio take full advantage in their pursuit of top spot.
AC Milan drew 0-0 with Sampdoria to miss the chance to go sixth in the Serie A table.
Massimiliano Allegri's men were eager to leapfrog Roma, who lost at Catania, but found themselves largely under the cosh in Genoa as Samp looked to claim their second big scalp in a week.
"We did not throw away points, as don't forget we were facing a side that was capable of beating Juventus last week," Allegri said.
"In the first half they pressed us more, then my players started to push and we should've done better in the final third," he said.
Napoli kept in touch with Juventus courtesy of a third consecutive victory, this time 3-0 over Palermo.
Elsewhere, Udinese claimed a 3-1 victory over Fiorentina at the Stadio Friuli. A Zeljko Brkic own goal put the visitors ahead only for an Antonio Di Natale brace and a strike from Luis Muriel to compelte the turnaround.
Roma's European ambitions suffered another blow after they crashed to a third defeat in four Serie A matches after going down 1-0 to mid-table Catania.
Torino survived a late scare to take all three points in a dramatic 3-2 victory over Siena at the Stadio Olimpico.
Daniele Conti's late header completed a 2-1 Cagliari win that lifted them out of the Serie A relegation zone at the expense of Genoa.
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