ROME: Runaway leaders Juventus defeated second-placed Lazio 2-0 at home on Saturday to take another huge step towards their fourth straight Serie A title and boost their confidence for Wednesday’s crunch Champions League clash in Monaco.

Carlos Tevez scored a league-leading 18th goal in the 17th minute and Leonardo Bonucci added the second on 29 minutes at Juventus Stadium to open up a 15-point lead on Lazio, who saw their eight-game winning streak come to a grinding halt.

Lazio midfielder Danilo Cataldi was sent off late on for a dangerous tackle on Tevez.

“I’m happy, not just for tonight’s game but for everything we’ve done so far,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Sports Italia. “We’re a mature team, we know how to manage games. We still need to win a couple more games and add a few draws.”

Juventus and Lazio are also set to face each other in the Italian Cup final on June 7, unless Juve reach the Champions League final on June 6, in which case the domestic showpiece will be rescheduled. Juve lead Monaco 1-0 ahead of Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg.

“It will be a similar game to the first leg,” Allegri said. “However, we’ll have to play better from a technical standpoint.”

On Sunday, AS Roma failed to make the most of Lazio’s defeat as they drew 1-1 at home to relegation-threatened Atalanta to move level on points with their city rivals in second spot on 58 points.

They looked good early when Francesco Totti gave Roma the lead from the spot in the third minute, but Atalanta levelled with a penalty of their own and Roma couldn’t convert their pressure into genuine goal-scoring opportunities.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2015

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