Serie A Leaders Juventus chalked up their 20th win of the campaign by dispatching AC Chievo Verona 3-1, before closest rivals AS Roma swept aside UC Sampdoria 3-0.
The result in Turin seldom looked in doubt from the moment Kwadwo Asamoah opened his account for the season after 17 minutes. Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio then consolidated the advantage before Martín Cáceres’s own goal six minutes into the second half revived Chievo’s hopes.
Buoyancy soon turned to despondency, however, when Fernando Llorente registered the Bianconeri’s third. That took the leaders 12 points clear at the summit, though Roma later reduced the deficit. Mattia Destro put Sampdoria on the back foot close to half-time and added a second before the hour mark, after Miralem Pjanić had also weighed in. The Blucerchiati later lost Daniele Gastaldello to a second yellow card.
In third, SSC Napoli were also triumphant, downing US Sassuolo Calcio 2-0 thanks to Blerim Dzemaili and young forward Lorenzo Insigne. As for Parma FC, they climbed into sixth and made it 11 Serie A outings without defeat courtesy of a thumping 4-0 triumph at Atalanta BC.
In Sunday’s early match, lowly Calcio Catania arrested a sequence of six games without success in all competitions with a 3-1 victory at home to SS Lazio. Elsewhere, Alberto Gilardino struck twice as Genoa CFC fought back to hold Udinese Calcio 3-3, while nine-men AS Livorno Calcio eased their relegation fears by consigning Cagliari Calcio, who had Daniele Conti sent off, to a 2-1 loss.