Turin, Italy – Juventus saw its lead atop Serie A increase to five points on Saturday following its 2-0 defeat of Fiorentina at Juventus Stadium and Napoli's draw with Lazio later in the day.
The Old Lady put the pressure on the second and third-place clubs by taking maximum points from its tussle with sixth-place Fiorentina, improving to 55 points on the season. First-half goals from Mirko Vucinic and Alessandro Matri were all Juventus would need to dispatch the Florence club.
The home side made the brighter start of the two as Claudio Marchisio fired a shot just a hair wide of the post in the 10th minute of play.
But it didn't take Juve long to finally grab the lead as Vucinic uncorked a volley from outside of the box in the 20th minute that left Marco Storari no chance at a save.
The Bianconeri dictated play for the remainder of the opening period and added another goal for their efforts when Matri beat Storari at his near post four minutes before the break.
With a two-goal lead deep into the second half, there was no need for Juventus to bring on striker Nicolas Anelka, who will have to wait until at least Tuesday to make his club debut when Juve takes on Celtic in Champions League play.
Fiorentina, which has lost two of its last three league games, remains stuck on 39 points.
Lazio 1, Napoli 1
Rome, Italy - Both Napoli and Lazio saw their chances of claiming the Serie A title take a bit of a hit on Saturday as they played to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.
Sergio Floccari helped Lazio take an early lead when he scored in the 10th minute, but the visitors spoiled the affair as Hugo Armando Campagnaro evened the score four minutes from time.
Napoli improves to 50 points on the season but falls five points back of Juve in the race for first place. Lazio, on 44 points, slips 11 points back of top spot.
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