AFP
Milan
Argentina strikers Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala hit a brace apiece as Juventus and Napoli maintained their respective title bids with precious wins in Italy's Serie A at the weekend.
Napoli, who are gunning for a first title in 26 years, had gone top of the pile on Saturday thanks to a 3-1 win over Sassuolo when seemingly unstoppable Higuain took his tally to 20 goals in 20 games. But a Dybala brace in a comprehensive 4-0 win at Udinese, Juve's 10th on the trot, meant Massimiliano Allegri's men stayed well in the hunt to sit just two points off the pace in second.
Those victories were enhanced by the fact that fellow title hopefuls Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Roma all dropped points in a weekend that also gave fallen giants AC Milan a chance to dream of European football again. Inter drew 1-1 at Atalanta on Saturday to slip to third at four points behind, and Fiorentina's shock 2-0 defeat at the San Siro, where Carlos Bacca and Kevin-Prince Boateng were on target for Milan, left La Viola in fourth but now six points off the pace.
Roma remain fifth but a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to basement side Verona, who have yet to win a game, in coach Luciano Spalletti's first game back in charge means they are now nine points in arrears.
To little surprise, Allegri insisted Napoli were the team to beat: "Napoli are going along at an impressive pace, so for now they are the favourites, although there are still five teams with the chance to win the title. "Plus, there are still 18 games and 54 points up for grabs. Any one of the top five can still win the league."
Dybala broke the deadlock on the quarter hour with a superb free-kick that sailed over the defensive wall and left Orestis Karnezis rooted to the spot. Just three minutes later, Sami Khedira pounced on some calamitous defending to nod a loose ball into the net at the far post.
Juventus were 3-0 up inside 26 minutes when Dybala beat Karnezis from the spot after Larangeira Danilo was shown a straight red for hauling Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic down from behind. It was Dybala's ninth goal of the season but sixth in his past 10 games and Allegri added: "He's made huge improvements, but like other players he can get better."
Udinese coach Stefano Colantuono admitted his side's performance was "poor" but said Dybala had been decisive. "He's solid, he always scores and he always makes the difference, just as he did at (former club) Palermo," said Colantuono. "He's got a big future ahead of him."
Sandro added a fourth three minutes before the interval, the Brazilian defender given the time to curl his effort inside Karnezis's far post from just inside the area to wrap up the win for the four-time consecutive champions.
Until Saturday's clash in Naples, impressive Sassuolo had gone unbeaten against five of this season's title challengers having claimed wins over Napoli, Juventus and Inter and drawn with Roma and Fiorentina. But Higuain, who is well on his way to this season's Capocannoniere (top scorer) award, did brilliantly to give Napoli a 42nd-minute lead after Jose Callejon's 19th-minute header cancelled out Diego Falcinelli's opener from the spot.
In the closing minutes, Higuain collected Callejon's cutback to beat Andrea Consigli with a fierce shot from inside the area to wrap up Napoli's 13th win. Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri has been credited with transforming a side that finished fifth under Rafael Benitez last season, but he was quick to praise his players. "This was a good and important win for us," he said. "It wasn't easy to come back into the game but the reaction the lads gave showed that they are a real team."
Juventus will be looking to make it 11 wins on the trot when they host Roma next weekend, when Napoli are away to Sampdoria, Inter host Carpi and Torino visit Fiorentina.
