Juventus extend Serie A streak, Roma return to winning ways
MILAN: Paulo Dybala and Blaise Matuidi scored early as Juventus extended their perfect start to their Serie A title defence to six games with a 2-0 win over Bologna, as Roma ended their losing streak with a 4-0 success over promoted Frosinone.
The reigning champions have a maximum 18 points, three ahead of Napoli who beat Parma 3-0, with the top two set to go headto-head in Turin on Saturday.
“We made some mistakes at the end of the match and we were sometimes vulnerable,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“On Saturday it’s a head-tohead with Napoli and it’ll certainly be a great game. I don’t have a line-up in my head right now, as on Friday in training we’ll see everyone together and decide.”
Lazio are third, a further three points adrift, after their fourth win on the trot 2-1 against Udinese ahead of this weekend’s Roman derby against Roma.
Roma, meanwhile, eased the pressure on under-fire coach Eusebio Di Francesco achieving their first three points since their season-opener against Torino over a month ago.
“This is a new beginning for us, a new season has started,” said Di Francesco.
In Turin, Dybala got a rare start up front alongside superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and lashed home his first goal of the season after 12 minutes in the Allianz Stadium.
The Argentine had initially teed up Matuidi but Lukasz Skorupski cleared the Frenchman’s effort before Dybala acrobatically turned the ball in himself.
Five minutes later World Cup winner Matuidi got his chance to add a second following a Ronaldo cross, with the Portuguese forward having a shot cleared off the near post by Skorupski.