JUVE YATAKATA

The still undefeated Bianconeri ruthlessly capitalized on AC Milan's shock draw at home to Bologna by routing the Champions League-chasing Giallorossi in Turin

By Mark Doyle

MORE ON : AS Roma, Juventus, Juventus vs AS Roma

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Juventus took a major step towards the Serie A title with a resounding 4-0 victory over 10-man Roma on Sunday evening.

Arturo Vidal put the Bianconeri two goals to the good inside the opening eight minutes before Andrea Pirlo made it 3-0. Pirlo knoced home the rebound after his penalty attempt just before the half hour mark had been saved by Gianluca Curci, who had taken over in nets following the dismissal of Maarten Stekelenburg for bring down Claudio Marchisio.

It was Marchisio who added Juve’s fourth goal shortly after the interval as Antonio Conte’s men moved three points clear of title rivals AC Milan.

Undoubtedly buoyed by the news that the Rossoneri had been held at home by Bologna earlier in the day, Juventus made a roaring start to the game, with Vidal netting a quickfire double.

The Chilean’s first goal was a wonderfully composed first-time, left-footed finish on a cross from Paolo De Ceglie, after Mirko Vucinic had opened up the Giallorossi defence.

The latter was also heavily involved in Vidal’s second strike. Fabio Quagliarella cleverly took Daniele De Rossi out of the equation by jumping into the makeshift Roma center half as he attempted to head clear just inside his own half.

The ball dropped for Vucinic, who drove forward before feeding it wide to Vidal. Again, the former Bayer Leverkusen man did not even think twice before letting rip and beating Stekelenburg with a stunning right-footed shot from the edge of the area.

Roma was reeling and though the club did improve from an offensive perspective, it continued to look desperately porous at the back. It came as no surprise, then, when Juve made it 3-0 with just 29 minutes gone.

After Marquinho had gifted the hosts possession in midfield, the ball eventually found its way to the feet of Vucinic. The former Roma man took a couple of touches before playing the most delightful outside-of-the-foot pass in to Marchisio, who was taken out by Stekelenburg after knocking the ball beyond the Roma keeper.

Stekelenburg rather harshly saw red for making minimal contact with Marchisio and although his replacement, Curci, saved Pirlo’s subsequent spot kick, the midfielder was on hand to tuck away the rebound.

With the game now over as a contest after less than half an hour of play, it was just a question of how many goals Juve would rack up.

In the end the Bianconeri managed just one more, Marchisio expertly placing the ball into the bottom right corner of the Roma goal early in the second half after a sublime layoff for the effervescent Vucinic.

Marchisio went close to adding a fifth only to be denied by Curci but Juve was more than happy to settle for 4-0 as it cruised to a victory which means that in light of its superior head-to-head record, the club can actually afford to lose one of its five remaining fixtures and still win the title.

Roma, meanwhile, remains sixth in the standings and is now five points adrift of third placed Lazio.

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