Juventus return to winning ways

AFP, MILAN: Goals from Josip Ilicic, Borja Valero and Joan Verdu secured a 3-0 win over Atalanta on Sunday as Fiorentina maintained their purple patch to go two points clear of Inter Milan at the top of Serie A.
On the day stuttering champions Juventus finally ended their quest for a first home win at the fourth attempt, Fiorentina showed their 4-1 humiliation of early season pacesetters Inter Milan last week was no flash in the pan.
La Viola now sit two points ahead of Inter with Lazio, who saw Keita Balde and Filip Djordjevic strike late to secure a precious 2-0 win at home to Frosinone, moving up to third, a point further adrift.
Roma own fourth spot, one more point back, while Napoli moved up to sixth place, Maurizio Sarri’s men now just six points adrift after a crushing 4-0 win over AC Milan at the San Siro.
Allan opened the scoring after just 13 minutes and Lorenzo Insigne hit a second half brace before Rodrigo Ely’s own goal in the 77th minute prompted AC Milan fans to leave the San Siro in droves as the Rossoneri suffered their worst defeat of the campaign so far to remain 11th, nine points off the pace.
Eyebrows were raised among Fiorentina’s fans when former FC Basel coach Paulo Sousa was brought in to replace Vincenzo Montella following his sacking at the end of last season.
But the Portuguese coach, a former midfielder who spent two season at Inter Milan, has won fans and pundits over quickly.
A week after seeing an early opener from Ilicic and a hat-trick from Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic destroy Inter, Ilicic was on target from the spot after just six minutes after Gabriel Paletta saw red for a foul on Jakub Blaszczykowski.
Spanish forward Valero doubled Fiorentina’s lead by the 34th minute and Verdu came off the bench to convert Kalinic’s assist at the death as Fiorentina claimed their sixth win in seven games.

Juventus return to winning ways

AFP, MILAN: Goals from Josip Ilicic, Borja Valero and Joan Verdu secured a 3-0 win over Atalanta on Sunday as Fiorentina maintained their purple patch to go two points clear of Inter Milan at the top of Serie A. On the day stuttering champions Juventus finally ended their quest for a first home win at the fourth attempt, Fiorentina showed their 4-1 humiliation of early season pacesetters Inter Milan last week was no flash in the pan. La Viola now sit two points ahead of Inter with Lazio, who saw Keita Balde and Filip Djordjevic strike late to secure a precious 2-0 win at home to Frosinone, moving up to third, a point further adrift. Roma own fourth spot, one more point back, while Napoli moved up to sixth place, Maurizio Sarris men now just six points adrift after a crushing 4-0 win over AC Milan at the San Siro. Allan opened the scoring after just 13 minutes and Lorenzo Insigne hit a second half brace before Rodrigo Elys own goal in the 77th minute prompted AC Milan fans to leave the San Siro in droves as the Rossoneri suffered their worst defeat of the campaign so far to remain 11th, nine points off the pace. Eyebrows were raised among Fiorentinas fans when former FC Basel coach Paulo Sousa was brought in to replace Vincenzo Montella following his sacking at the end of last season. But the Portuguese coach, a former midfielder who spent two season at Inter Milan, has won fans and pundits over quickly. A week after seeing an early opener from Ilicic and a hat-trick from Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic destroy Inter, Ilicic was on target from the spot after just six minutes after Gabriel Paletta saw red for a foul on Jakub Blaszczykowski. Spanish forward Valero doubled Fiorentinas lead by the 34th minute and Verdu came off the bench to convert Kalinics assist at the death as Fiorentina claimed their sixth win in seven games.