MILAN: Second-placed Lazio took control of a tight Serie A battle for the Champions League qualifying places after beating Juventus 2-1 on Saturday.
Mattia Zaccagni scored what was to prove the winner early in the second half after Adrien Rabiot canceled out Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s controversial opener.
Lazio moved five points clear of third-placed Roma, who won at Torino 1-0. Lazio were six points ahead of AC Milan and seven ahead of fifth-placed Inter Milan after they dropped points on Friday.
Juventus — hit by a 15-point penalty in January — were seventh, eight points below Milan.
Despite their point deduction, Juventus closed in on the top four with a run of seven wins in eight matches.
Lazio broke their deadlock in the 38th minute when Milinkovic-Savic chested down a pass from Zaccagni and fired into the back of the net.
There were lengthy Juventus protests as Milinkovic-Savic had one hand on Alex Sandro’s back as they went for the ball and the defender went sprawling. But the goal was given after a check by the VAR much to the Bianconeri’s disgust.
That appeared to motivate them even more as they leveled just four minutes later. A corner was floated in and Ivan Provedel parried Bremer’s header but Rabiot turned home the rebound at the third try after the Lazio goalkeeper kept out the first two attempts.
Lazio restored their advantage eight minutes into the second half with a fine team goal. Luis Alberto flicked on Felipe Anderson’s cross with a backheel for Zaccagni to sweep across into the bottom right corner.
HOPES DENTED
Atalanta’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League took a blow when they lost at home to Bologna 2-0.
Nicola Sansone and Riccardo Orsolini scored in the second half to lift Bologna up to eighth, five points below sixth-placed Atalanta.
Atalanta dominated possession but struggled to carve out goal-scoring opportunities.
Sansone broke the deadlock four minutes after the break when he curled into the far side of the net after being set up by Musa Barrow.
Orsolini thought he doubled Bologna’s lead 10 minutes from time and celebrated by taking his shirt off but the goal was ruled out for offside and the forward was shown a yellow card. He will be suspended for next weekend’s match against AC Milan.
He did score six minutes later, cutting inside from the right and firing into the bottom far corner.
DYBALA PENALTY
Paulo Dybala converted a penalty for the second straight match to help Roma prevail in Turin.
Dybala sent his spot kick straight down the middle to give Roma an eighth-minute lead after Torino defender Perr Schuurs blocked a Nicola Zalewski shot with his arm.
Dybala also nailed a penalty last weekend in a win over Sampdoria.
Torino almost equalized immediately after the break but Roma goalkeeper Rui Patr?cio did well to fingertip Aleksej Miranchuk’s header around his left post.
RELEGATION BATTLE
Two late goals saw relegation-threatened Hellas Verona snatch a 2-1 win over Sassuolo to give them real hope of avoiding the drop.
Federico Ceccherini leveled with six minutes remaining and fellow substitute Adolfo Gaich netted in stoppage time after a goalkeeping error.
Verona moved to within four points of safety after 17th-placed Spezia drew at Fiorentina 1-1, thwarting its opponent’s hopes of a record 10th straight victory in all competitions.
Earlier, Leonardo Sernicola struck in stoppage time to help Cremonese fight back to win at Sampdoria 3-2 in a battle between sides at the foot of Serie A.
Sampdoria replaced Cremonese in last place, 11 points from safety.
Udinese also scored in added time, with a penalty, to draw with Monza 2-2.