Juventus secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over city rivals Torino in Saturday’s derby, moving up to third place in Serie A and closing in on the top of the table.
Timothy Weah opened the scoring early, tapping in an Andrea Cambiaso cross after Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic spilled the ball. Kenan Yildiz sealed the win with a header in the final minutes, sending the Old Lady up to 24 points, just one behind second-placed Inter Milan and league leaders Napoli.
Despite Torino’s early-season form, which had them top the table in September, their recent struggles continued as they now sit 11th, 10 points behind Juventus. The win was important for Juventus, but they could still fall out of the Champions League places if Atalanta, Fiorentina, and Lazio pick up points this weekend.
Meanwhile, AC Milan’s title hopes took a hit as they were held to a 3-3 draw by Cagliari. Despite leading twice through Rafael Leao’s goals, Milan dropped points after Cagliari fought back in an entertaining clash. Milan now sit seventh, four points off the Champions League spots and seven behind Napoli.
Cagliari started well with an early goal from Nadir Zortea, but Leao equalized and then put Milan ahead with a brilliant individual effort. Tammy Abraham’s 69th-minute goal looked to have sealed the win, but Gabriele Zappa scored a stunning volley in stoppage time to level things up.
AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca rued his side’s defensive lapses, pointing to their inability to deal with crosses and aerial duels as the key to their disappointing result.
In other action, Parma came from behind to defeat bottom-of-the-table Venezia 2-1, with goals from Emanuele Valeri and Ange-Yoan Bonny lifting them out of the relegation zone.
The pick of Sunday’s games sees Napoli, the 2023 Scudetto winners, travel to face reigning champions Inter Milan in what promises to be a thrilling encounter.
