Juventus defeated Roma 2-1 in Serie A, moving within four points of leaders Inter Milan after goals from Conceicao and Openda in Turin.
TURIN: Juventus moved within four points of Serie A leaders Inter Milan with a 2-1 victory over Roma at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Goals from Francisco Conceicao and Lois Openda secured a second consecutive major win for Luciano Spalletti’s side following last weekend’s triumph over Bologna.
Juventus remain fifth in the standings with 29 points, just one point behind fourth-placed Roma who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot.
“I think we deserved to win, we knew that today’s match was important and we did what we set out to do — we won,” said match-winner Conceicao.
The hosts hold a game in hand over the top three of Inter, Napoli and AC Milan, whose fixtures were postponed due to the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Roma offered little threat until Tommaso Baldanzi’s late consolation tap-in 15 minutes from time, suffering their sixth league defeat of the campaign.
“We were lacking in accuracy when it came to the final pass but I’d like to focus on some of the performances today,” said Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini.
Conceicao broke the deadlock a minute before halftime, lashing home left-footed after collecting Andrea Cambiaso’s neat flick in the penalty area.
Openda bundled in Juventus’s second in the 70th minute after Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar had superbly kept out Weston McKennie’s initial header.
Baldanzi quickly pulled a goal back for the visitors after Michele Di Gregorio parried Evan Ferguson’s low drive into his path.
Juventus nearly restored their two-goal cushion when Kenan Yildiz stroked a beautiful shot onto the post in the 80th minute before seeing out the win.
Roma have now lost three of their last four league matches but remain just three points from the Serie A summit.
“We’re at the beginning and we have a strong club behind us, and the squad has a base of players who showed they were of the level required in all of those big matches,” added Gasperini.
In Saturday’s earlier fixture, Lazio were held to a goalless draw by Cremonese in Rome.
