Juventus Move In Sight Of 26th Serie A Title
ROME, March 19 (Reuters) - Leaders Juventus beat Torino 3-2 in a tense Turin derby on Sunday and swept towards their 26th Serie A title as their main rivals slipped up.
Lazio fell 1-0 to a Domenico Morfeo strike at Verona, champions AC Milan's Leonardo missed a penalty as his side went down by the same scoreline at Venezia and fifth-placed AS Roma were beaten 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium by Reggina, in their first season in Serie A.
The results left Juventus nine points clear on 59 with eight matches to play. Lazio stay second on 50 points, ahead of Inter Milan, whose 1-1 home draw with Bologna on Saturday lifted them to 48. Milan have 46 points and Roma 45.
"This is an important result for us and although we don't want to start making proclamations I'd say that we're the only ones who can lose the championship now," Juve coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "(The results of our rivals) show the strength of the Italian league and show that the fight for survival at the bottom is just as important for the fight for the title at the top."
The Turin derby had been moved forward from a scheduled evening kick-off due to a row over ticket allocation and police fears of trouble between rival fans. But the controversy was limited to the pitch.
Referee Pierluigi Collina awarded three penalties, all contested. Juventus took the lead after 23 minutes thanks to an own-goal from Torino midfielder Massimo Brambilla, who was unlucky to deflect a shot past his own goalkeeper. Torino pulled level before halftime after Juve fullback Mark Iuliano had tripped striker Marco Ferrante, who dusted himself down and converted the resulting spot kick for 1-1.
Italy defender Ciro Ferrara restored Juventus' lead with a goal from a corner in the 67th minute and when Alessandro Del Piero scored from the penalty spot five minutes later after Gianluca Zambrotta had been pulled down, Juve were cruising. Ferrante gave Torino hope with his second penalty and his 14th strike of the season but Ancelotti's hugely experienced side shut out their opponents to win.
