No let up by Juve
Bonucci puts in fine display to help champions extend lead
MILAN: English Premier League target Leonardo Bonucci ( pic) scored an impressive goal as Juventus moved 11 points clear at the top of Serie A with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Genoa.
Bonucci, a former target for Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, has been linked in recent days with a big- money move to Manchester City.
And the Italy centreback underlined his all-round class with a great finish in the 64th minute of a one-sided encounter in Turin on Sunday that saw Massimiliano Allegri’s men take another step towards a record sixth consecutive scudetto.
Genoa had stunned Juventus 3-1 at the Luigi Ferraris last September.
But days after holding Barcelona to a scoreless draw to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League 3- 0 on aggregate, Juve were never likely to buckle.
A bright start saw the hosts in front by 17 minutes, when Ezequiel Munoz scored an own goal past his goalkeeper Eugenio Lamanna after Claudio Marchisio had got the slightest of touches to Gonzalo Higuain’s delivery deep from midfield.
Paolo Dybala, the architect of Juve’s quarter- final tie against Barcelona – when he scored a first- leg brace – turned on the class to beat Lamanna with a crisp shot from the edge of the area for the second goal.
When Mario Mandzukic picked up his own rebound four minutes before the interval, the Croatian striker pounced from the left of the area to curl a superb shot past the outstretched hands of Lamanna at the far post.
Bonucci had the ball in the net 10 minutes after the restart when he volleyed home a Dybala freekick at the far post, although it was ruled out for a Mandzukic foul.
Barely 10 minutes later, Genoa’s defence stood off as Bonucci burst through to hit a shot that appeared to take a slight deflection before looping over Lamanna from 20m out.
“It was a good performance in both attacking and defensive terms,” said Allegri.
“Coming a few days after Barcelona, we could have suffered a dip. But the lads really kept their level high.
“I don’t want to talk about the scudetto, because mathematically nothing’s guaranteed. Today we simply had to go out and win.”
Napoli remain third, but are now 12 points behind Juve after dropping two points in a shock 2-2 draw at Sassuolo, where striker Arkadiusz Milik came off the bench to hit a late leveller six months after suffering an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury.
Lazio stay fourth after Keita Balde hit a hat-trick in the space of five second-half minutes in a 6-2 romp over Palermo that boosted their Europa League hopes.
Atalanta are back in fifth at one point further behind with AC Milan, who saw Spanish forward Suso miss a second-half penalty in a crushing 2-1 home defeat to Empoli, still in sixth but now five points behind the Europa League places. — AFP