Juventus beat Torino to extend unbeaten home run

Rome, Feb 24 (IANS) Juventus extended their unbeaten run in Turin derbies to 16 matches as Carlos Tevez‘s fist-half strike earned them a 1-0 win against Torino.

Tevez’s thunderous shot on the turn after 30 minutes of the latest Turin derby proved enough to restore the Italian champions’ advantage Sunday, Xinhua reported.

Seventh-placed Torino — who have now failed to score against Juve in 10 attempts, taking only one point from those encounters — flirted with denying the leaders a 13th consecutive home win but could not find the back of the net.

Juventus head coach Antonio Conte revealed that he adjusted his side’s tactics to limit Torino.

“In my view our game was tactically perfect, as we played with cool heads and hot hearts. We allowed Torino very few chances and tried to limit their counter-attacks, which are their main strengths,” he said.

His Torino counterpart Giampiero Ventura felt his side deserved a draw against Juventus as they had a penalty disallowed.

“It is rare to see Juventus struggle so much in this stadium, as they put three goals past Milan, Roma and Inter here. In the second half they barely had a shot on goal,” he said.

He suggested that the referee made a mistake not to give Torino a penalty when Omar El Kaddouri appeared to be tripped by Andrea Pirlo in the final minutes.

“Seeing the footage now, I can say they were right, it was a penalty on El Kaddouri,” he said.

Verona closed the gap on Inter in the race for UEFA Europa League qualification with a 3-2 win over struggling Livorno in Serie A Sunday.

Their win put pressure on fifth-placed Inter to get a result a couple of hours later, and Walter Mazzarri’s side could only manage a 1-1 draw at San Siro with Cagliari.

The visitors went in front in the 40th minute when Mauricio Pinilla tucked home a penalty and although Rolando equalized six minutes after the break, the draw means Inter now hold just a one-point advantage over Verona.

Mazzarri complained his side were denied a blatant penalty.

The former Napoli boss believes Mauro Icardi was clearly fouled and that the Nerazzurri should have had the chance to win the game.

“I don’t talk about referees,” he said. “It’s so obvious, how can I not say it was a penalty. I’m fed up of keeping quiet but I will have to,” he said.

Inter’s cross-city rivals AC Milan are gaining ground under the guidance of Clarence Seedorf with a comfortable 2-0 win at 10-man Sampdoria.

Adel Taarabt opened the scoring in the 12th minute then turned provider just before the hour-mark when he crossed for Adil Rami to head home, before Maxi Lopez was sent off for the hosts after receiving two cautions for dissent.

Chievo beat fellow strugglers Catania 2-0 at home to climb out of the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Stefan Radu and Miroslav Klose scored to help Lazio beat Sassuolo 3-2 at home, while Antonio Di Natale converted a penalty at the 71st minute to rescue a point for Udinese in a 1-1 draw with Atalanta.