MILAN: Juventus are practically assured of winning a seventh successive Serie A title after second-placed Napoli’s challenge petered out on Sunday when they twice squandered the lead in a 2-2 draw at home to Torino.

The title is a mere formality for Juve after they were left with a six-point lead over Napoli — the only side who can catch them — with two matches to play. Both teams are equal in head-to-head clashes which is the next deciding factor but Juve have a goal difference which is better by 16.

They now need just one point to officially retain their crown with games to come against AS Roma in the Stadio Olimpico and already-relegated Hellas Verona in Turin.

Torino twice battled back from a goal down to steal a point from Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli side who had been bidding for a first title since the days of Argentina legend Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990.

Sarri buried his head in his hands when Lorenzo De Silvestri was allowed a free header to equalise for Torino in the 83rd minute.

Torino defender Nicolas Burdisso gifted Napoli the lead after 25 minutes when he tried to play his way out of the penalty area and Dries Mertens stole in from behind to poke the ball into the net and end his eight-round goal drought.

The Bulls stunned the San Paolo stadium by equalising 10 minutes after halftime with a Daniele Baselli shot which deflected off Vlad Chiriches and wrong-footed Napoli keeper Pepe Reina.

Napoli captain Marek Hamsik, who surprisingly started on the bench, was brought on after 69 minutes and made an immediate impact as he rifled home a 25-metre shot with his first touch two minutes later.

But Torino hit back again as Mario Rui allowed De Silvestri to get behind him and head in Adem Ljajic’s floated free kick.

Juve had recovered from a goal down to beat Bologna 3-1 on Saturday thanks to an inspirational performance from substitute Douglas Costa to open up a seven-point lead, with Napoli losing 3-0 last weekend in Fiorentina.

Simone Verdi’s penalty gave Bologna a surprise halftime lead and Juve turned the match around with Douglas Costa shredding the defence amid an own goal from Sebastian De Maio and strikes from Sami Khedira and Paulo Dybala.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIGHT

Inter Milan boosted their chances of a top-four finish, which would earn them a place in the Champions League group stage, with a 4-0 win at faltering Udinese.

Andrea Ranocchia netted the opener before Rafinha and Mauro Icardi scored two goals in as many minutes at the end of the first half to give Inter a commanding lead.

Matters got worse for Udinese straight after the restart as Seko Fofana was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Ivan Perisic and Borja Valero added a fourth.

Inter are fifth, one point behind AS Roma who were playing Cagliari later on Sunday, and two behind Lazio, who were held 1-1 by Atalanta.

Teenage star Musa Barrow gave Atalanta the lead with less than two minutes on the clock but Felipe Caicedo leveled in the 24th, thanks to great work from Luis Alberto.

The draw meant Atalanta fell one point behind sixth-placed AC Milan who occupy the final qualifying place for the Europa League.

Milan relegated Verona with a 4-1 win on Saturday. Hakan Calhanoglu, Patrick Cutrone, Ignazio Abate and Fabio Borini shared the goals as Milan comfortably dispatched Verona in at San Siro while Lee Seung-woo scored a consolation for the visitors.

At the bottom, Cheivo beat Crotone 2-1 to leave both teams level with Udinese on 34 points, one above Cagliari who are in the bottom three.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2018