Juventus see off nine-man Roma to go eight points clear at top

The Serie A leaders, Juventus ended 2nd placed Roma's unbeaten record this season with an emphatic win on Sunday to go eights points clear at the top after a match in which the visitors had two men sent off in less than 60 seconds.

Arturo Vidal gave Juventus the lead in the 17th minute and Leonardo Bonucci turned in Andrea Pirlo's free-kick three minutes after half-time to put Juve in control.

Roma imploded late in the game after Daniele De Rossi was sent off for a two-footed lunge on Giorgio Chiellini in the 75th minute. Pirlo took the resulting free-kick and floated over another majestic ball that found Bonucci, whose header was on its way in until Leandro Castan punched the ball away and was sent off.

Mirko Vucinic fired in the penalty to complete the scoring and Juve's 10th successive league win.
Juventus, threatening to run away with their third successive title with more than half the season to play, have 49 points from 18 games, including 16 wins, with Roma on 41. Napoli and Fiorentina are a further five points back in third place.

Roma had made a bright start and quickly threatened when Francesco Totti set Adem Ljajic free, forcing the Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to dive at his feet and send the ball out for a corner.
But Juve struck the first blow when Carlos Tevez collected the ball from a throw-in, ran into the penalty area and flicked a pass to Vidal who escaped the attention of the Roma defence and slipped his shot past Morgan De Sanctis.

Paul Pogba just failed to find Tevez with the final pass after a counterattack, a Tevez cross flashed across the face of the goal and a Fernando Llorente shot was just too high as the hosts poured forward.

Juventus went further ahead after the break with a simple goal when Pirlo curled over a pinpoint free-kick and Bonucci, completely unmarked at the far post, slid the ball home.

Roma enjoyed a long spell of pressure but failed to offer much of a threat with Totti over-hitting too many free-kicks and corners before being substituted to a resounding chorus of jeers from the Juventus stadium.

Their tempers frayed as they sank to their first defeat since the Frenchman Rudi Garcia took over as coach at the start of the season and Ljajic was lucky to escape with a yellow card for a rough challenge on Pogba in the 83rd minute.

Source:  theguardian.com