Khedira hattrick lifts 10-man Juventus, Milan see red

SAMI KHEDIRA hit his first hattrick as ten-man Juventus kept pace with leaders Napoli and Inter Milan in a 6-2 goalfest at Udinese yesterday as AC Milan’s campaign unravelled further with a goalless draw at Genoa.

Massimiliano Allegri’s champions desperately needed to win at Udine after claiming just one point in their previous two league games.

And the reigning six-time champions fought back after Stipe Perica opened after eight minutes for the hosts and Mario Mandzukic was sent off on 25 minutes for a second yellow card.

But a Samir own goal after 14 minutes and a Khedira strike got the Turin giants back in front within six minutes.

“There was a good response from the boys. It wasn’t easy,” said Allegri.

“In fact I want to thank him (Mandzukic), because we had to get back to winning games by defending and suffering for the result, so we can only thank him,” Allegri told Mediaset Premium.

Juventus remain joint third with Lazio who beat Cagliari 3-0 but are just a point behind second-placed Inter Milan and three adrift of leaders Napoli, who have 25 points from nine games.

AS Roma bounced back from last weekend’s loss at Napoli with a 1-0 win at Torino to build on their midweek 3-3 Champions League draw at Chelsea.

Serbian defender Kolarov’s spectacular free kick after 69 minutes moved Roma up to fifth, with a match in hand.

Lazio’s Ciro Immobile scored a double to bring his Serie A leading tally to 13 goals in nine games against Cagliari.

Immobile stepped up to convert a penalty after seven minutes and headed in his second four minutes before the break.

Angolan defender Bastos made it 3-0 off a Luis Alberto free kick to condemn the Sardinians, under new coach Diego Lopez, to a fifth straight defeat. – AFP