Juventus reclaim top spot in Italian Serie A

Posted on November 21, 2011 by SoccerPunter

Juventus went back to the top of Serie A after a 3-0 win over Palermo on Sunday which took them ahead of Lazio on goal difference.

The Old Lady of Turin also have a game in hand on most of their rivals and remain the only unbeaten team in the league.

Simone Pepe, Alessandro Matri and Claudio Marchisio scored the goals to down the Sicilians, who are yet to score away from home this season.

Juve dominated against Palermo throughout the match and could have won more comfortably. Giorgio Chiellini was the architect on 20 minutes as the hosts went in front, crossing from the left for an inexplicably unmarked Pepe to head home.

Andrea Pirlo was a lick of paint away from doubling the advantage with a shot from 20 yards that curled around goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas but hit the inside of the post only to rebound to safety.

Josip Ilicic wasted a great chance to equalise when Fabrizio Miccoli put him through one-on-one with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon but the Slovenia playmaker failed to connect with the ball and the opportunity went begging.

The killer second came three minutes after the break as Stephan Lichsteiner’s slide-rule pass put Matri in behind the backline and he finished from a tight angle.

Marchisio finished off a well-worked third on 65 minutes from close range as Matri’s dummy from Mirko Vucinic’s cross fooled the Palermo defence.

Udinese fell off the top and are now a point behind Juve in fourth as they lost 2-0 at Parma.

Jonathan Biabiany was left alone and unmarked to head home a corner from eight yards before he won a penalty when Dusan Basta brought him down.

Sebastian Giovinco netted from the spot for his seventh in the league this season.

Marco Parolo scored seven minutes from time to give rock-bottom Cesena their first victory of the season in a 1-0 success at fellow strugglers Bologna.

German Denis scored a brace, including one from the spot, to move top of the goalscoring charts with nine, one ahead of Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale, as Atalanta drew 2-2 at Siena.

On Saturday Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti was the hero as the capital-based club held out for a 0-0 draw at Napoli.

That was enough to keep them level with Juve on points at the top.

AC Milan had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside and were denied what looked a clear late penalty as they were held to a 0-0 draw at Fiorentina.

That leaves them a point behind Juve in third.

Inter Milan won for only the third time this season in the league as they beat Cagliari 2-1 at the San Siro, although they are still down in 16th.