Juventus win derby to move into top three, AC Milan held in thriller

Juventus edged a tense derby against city rivals Torino 2-0 on Saturday to move within one point of the summit of Serie A, while AC Milan dropped points in an entertaining draw at Cagliari.

Strikes in both halves from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz were enough to give Juventus victory over their fellow side from Turin and send the Old Lady up to third in the table with 24 points.

The victory, provisionally, leaves Juventus level on points with champions Inter Milan in second and one behind league leaders Napoli.

“It was another good performance where we brought the three points home,” Juventus coach Thiago Motta told Sky Sport Italia.

“I am happy both with the result and the performance, in a derby on home turf, and thank our fans for their support.”

With the pair in action against each other on Sunday, Juventus are ensured to have cut the gap to at least one of them this weekend.

However, Juve could nonetheless exit the Champions League places this week as Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio are all still to play, and trail Motta’s side by just two points.

Torino’s form has fallen off drastically in recent weeks after they had sat top of the table in September.

With one win in their last seven league outings, Torino now sit 11th in the league and 10 points adrift of their city rivals.

The deadlock was broken on 18 minutes when Weah tapped into an open net after Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had failed to hold onto Andrea Cambiaso’s driven effort from wide on the left.

Both sides struggled to create chances in a match that will likely not live long in the memory of either set of fans.

Yildiz then ended Torino hopes of a draw six minutes from time with a stooping back-post header.

– ‘A step backwards’ –

AC Milan fell further behind the title race after twice throwing away the lead in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Cagliari.

The Rossoneri remain seventh but are now four points off the Champions League places and seven behind pacesetters Napoli.

Rafael Leao scored twice in the first half to give Milan the lead after Nadir Zortea’s early opener.

Cagliari struck back soon after the break through Gabriele Zappa before Tammy Abraham restored the visitors’ lead, only for Zappa to score a sensational equaliser in the final stages.

“This draw is clearly a step backwards,” AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca said to DAZN, referencing his side’s midweek 3-1 victory in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

“Our problem today was our defence, we lacked aggression, we let them cross too much, we lost too many aerial duels, it’s not possible to win a match in those conditions.”

For the home side, the draw takes them to 16th place on 10 points, one clear of the drop zone.

Zortea gave Cagliari the perfect start on two minutes as he smashed home from the back post after a corner.

Leao brought Milan level 13 minutes later with a lobbed finish after being sent in behind the defence by Tijjani Reijnders’ excellent lofted pass.

The Portuguese winger then doubled up five minutes before the break as Youssouf Fofana released him with an accurate long ball to his feet and he rounded the goalkeeper to give Milan the advantage.

Nine minutes after the break Fofana was at fault as he inadvertently played Zappa in behind his own defence and the Cagliari player finished past the advancing Mike Maignan.

Abraham looked to have completed the comeback for Fonseca’s side with his second goal of the season when he tapped home on 69 minutes.

But Zappa equalised again for Cagliari with one minute left via a thumping volley from a looping cross.

Parma came from behind to beat bottom-of-the-table Venezia 2-1 away from home.

Hans Nicolussi Caviglia opened the scoring for the hosts but goals either side of the break from Emanuele Valeri and Ange-Yoan Bonny moved Parma up to 14th, three points clear of the relegation zone.

The pick of Sunday’s action is the trip of 2023 Scudetto winners Napoli to reigning champions Inter Milan. (BSS/AFP)