Higuain helps Juve to stretch Serie A Lead

AFP, TURIN (ITALY): Gonzalo Higuain hit a fairytale winner as Juventus edged the Argentine’s former club Napoli 2-1 in Turin on Saturday to stretch their lead to five points at the top of Italy’s Serie A.
Higuain, who hit a Serie A record of 36 goals for Napoli last season, has become a hate figure at the San Paolo stadium after moving to Juventus for an Italian transfer record fee of 90m euros.
Although he can expect a red-hot welcome from Napoli fans, many of whom burned his shirt in disgust at his move, when the southerners host the champions on April 2, Higuain was mindful not to celebrate after hitting his seventh league goal of the season.
A superb volley by Leonardo Bonucci gave Juventus a 50th minute lead, only for Jose Callejon to beat Gianluigi Buffon four minutes later from Lorenzo Insigne’s superb chip.
A tense and tactically-tight affair, which saw a number of clashes between players, looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw.
But when Higuain’s cross for Sami Khedira spilled back into the striker’s path, he made no mistake with a first-time drive that beat Pepe Reina down low on 70 minutes.
Juventus, aiming for a record sixth consecutive ‘scudetto’ this season, now have a five-point lead on Roma ahead of their visit to Empoli.
“It was important to win tonight,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“If we drew, Roma could have pulled level on points with us tomorrow. Instead, we won and now Napoli are seven points behind us. I think whoever came to see us tonight had a good time.”
Napoli could drop to fourth if AC Milan account for lowly Pescara at the San Siro on Sunday.
But Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri insists they are Juve’s real rivals: “We have faith in ourselves. We’re Juve’s key rivals, and people know it.”
It took Juventus 12 minutes to fashion a decent chance but after breaking on the counter Higuain’s lay-off to Mario Mandzukic had too much pace, and Reina had time to rush out and smother at the Croat’s feet.
Higuain should have done better on 24 minutes later when he latched on to Sami Khedira’s slide rule pass behind the Napoli defence, only to be thwarted by Vlad Chiriches’s late challenge. 
Napoli’s slick passing game impressed, but without injured Polish striker Arkaduisz Milik, bought as Higuain’s replacement from Ajax, the visitors lacked an aerial threat.
Sarri admitted Higuain’s departure still hurt.
“We lost one of the best forwards in the world and the club made the decision to buy young players. I think the club made the right choice,” he added.
When Brazilian midfielder Allan powered towards goal unchallenged, his tame drive from 25 yards gave Buffon no trouble.

 

Higuain helps Juve to stretch Serie A Lead

AFP, TURIN (ITALY): Gonzalo Higuain hit a fairytale winner as Juventus edged the Argentines former club Napoli 2-1 in Turin on Saturday to stretch their lead to five points at the top of Italys Serie A. Higuain, who hit a Serie A record of 36 goals for Napoli last season, has become a hate figure at the San Paolo stadium after moving to Juventus for an Italian transfer record fee of 90m euros. Although he can expect a red-hot welcome from Napoli fans, many of whom burned his shirt in disgust at his move, when the southerners host the champions on April 2, Higuain was mindful not to celebrate after hitting his seventh league goal of the season. A superb volley by Leonardo Bonucci gave Juventus a 50th minute lead, only for Jose Callejon to beat Gianluigi Buffon four minutes later from Lorenzo Insignes superb chip. A tense and tactically-tight affair, which saw a number of clashes between players, looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw. But when Higuains cross for Sami Khedira spilled back into the strikers path, he made no mistake with a first-time drive that beat Pepe Reina down low on 70 minutes. Juventus, aiming for a record sixth consecutive scudetto this season, now have a five-point lead on Roma ahead of their visit to Empoli. It was important to win tonight, said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. If we drew, Roma could have pulled level on points with us tomorrow. Instead, we won and now Napoli are seven points behind us. I think whoever came to see us tonight had a good time. Napoli could drop to fourth if AC Milan account for lowly Pescara at the San Siro on Sunday. But Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri insists they are Juves real rivals: We have faith in ourselves. Were Juves key rivals, and people know it. It took Juventus 12 minutes to fashion a decent chance but after breaking on the counter Higuains lay-off to Mario Mandzukic had too much pace, and Reina had time to rush out and smother at the Croats feet. Higuain should have done better on 24 minutes later when he latched on to Sami Khediras slide rule pass behind the Napoli defence, only to be thwarted by Vlad Chirichess late challenge. Napolis slick passing game impressed, but without injured Polish striker Arkaduisz Milik, bought as Higuains replacement from Ajax, the visitors lacked an aerial threat. Sarri admitted Higuains departure still hurt. We lost one of the best forwards in the world and the club made the decision to buy young players. I think the club made the right choice, he added. When Brazilian midfielder Allan powered towards goal unchallenged, his tame drive from 25 yards gave Buffon no trouble.