Juventus March On But Chasers Stay in Touch
ROME, March 5 (Reuters) - Antonio Conte and Alessandro Del Piero scored as Juventus maintained their four point-lead at the top of Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 win over Bari on Sunday. But while the Turin side show no signs of slipping up -- they remain unbeaten since September 25 -- the chasing pack refuse to give up the ghost.
Marco Delvecchio strike gave Roma a hard-earned 1-0 win at home to struggling Torino and Pavel Nedved grabbed the only goal of the game in Lazio's away win at Lecce. The other two sides with title pretensions, Inter and AC Milan, were meeting at the San Siro later on Sunday.
Juventus gave a typically disciplined and organised performance. They were rock solid at the back and dominated the midfield from the outset with Zinedine Zidane and Edgar Davids in inspired form. But it took until two minutes before the break for Juve to
make the breakthrough. Del Piero set up Antonio Conte who beat Francesco Mancini with a cool finish.
Juve extended their lead nine minutes after the break when Del Piero sent Filippo Inzaghi into the area and the Italy striker was brought down by Matteo Ferrari. Del Piero converted the penalty to take his season's tally to six goals -- all from the spot.
Roma looked set for a repeat of their UEFA Cup scoreless draw with Leeds on Thursday as Torino kept them at bay for more than an hour. With the crowd increasingly impatient, Marco Delvecchio finally found the target with a left-foot shot on the turn which flew in off the post.
GOAL DIFFERENCE
Roma moved into third place ahead of AC Milan on goal difference but could be overtaken by either of the Milan teams after their derby. Lazio came close to an early lead at Lecce when Juan Veron fired a 30-metre free kick against the bar in the sixth minute. Pavel Nedved grabbed the crucial goal with a spectacular strike from 20 metres in the 37th minute. Veron struck the woodwork again with an identical effort midway through the second half. Lecce had Gianluca Colonello sent off for a second bookable offence in the final minute. Earlier, coach Alberto Cavasin had been shown the red card for dissent.
Parma gained their first win in nine games thanks to two goals from Hernan Crespo in their 3-0 win over Reggina. Italy winder Diego Fuser opened the scoring in the third minute with a low shot from the right after he latched on to a delightful backheel from Ariel Ortega. Crespo made it two with a close range finish in the 35th minute and sealed the win, which greatly eases the pressure on coach Alberto Malesani, with a penalty on the stroke of halftime. Argentine Crespo is joint top scorer in Serie A with Milan's Andriy Shevchenko with 16 goals.
