Juve extend lead as Klose strikes for Lazio

MILAN (AFP) –

Juventus’ Claudio Marechisio (R) celebrates with Giorgio Chiellini after he scored against Siena during their serie A football match at Artemio Franchi stadium in Siena. Juventus won 2-1.

Juventus extended their lead at the top of Italy’s Serie A table with a 2-1 win away to Siena as Miroslav Klose kept Lazio in contention with a double strike in a 3-0 win over Pescara Sunday.

In Sunday’s late matches Napoli kept pace with Antonio Conte’s leader with a 2-1 win over Udinese which means they remain in second and are the only other unbeaten team in Serie A this season.

And in a 157th Serie A derby between Milan and Inter, ten-man Inter prevailed 1-0 at the San Siro thanks to a fourth-minute diving header from Argentinian Walter Samuel.

Juventus got off to a great start when midfielder Andre Pirlo gave them a 14th minute lead from a sumptuous free kick.

Siena had caused an upset at the San Siro a few weeks ago with victory over Inter Milan.

And they were given hope when Emanuele Calaio rose to meet Brazilian Angelo’s cross to beat Gianluigi Buffon with a bullet header in the 47th minute.

Midfielder Claudio Marchisio, however, produced a superb volley from the edge of the area to give Juve an 85th minute winner and take their impressive unbeaten streak to 47 consecutive games.

Inter Milan’s forward Antonio Cassano eyes the ball during the Italian Serie A football match between AC Milan and Inter Milan at the San Siro stadium in Milan. Ten-man Inter Milan survived a second-half assault by city rivals AC Milan to win 1-0 and claim their 50th Milan derby win in Serie A.

Marchisio said: “This was a really important goal for the team. We need to send a signal that we’re motivated to defend our title.”

Lazio have already suffered two defeats although the visit to struggling Serie A newcomers Pescara was never likely to end in anything but a win for a side that had scored nine goals in six games.

Lazio took the lead after just five minutes when Brazilian midfielder Hernanes curled a freekick past Mattia Perin in the Pescara net.

Klose made it two when he latched on to Andrea Candreva’s through ball in the 25th minute and claimed his fifth league goal of the season 10 minutes later when his header from a Hernanes corner beat the keeper.

Lazio coach Vladimir Petkovic hailed a performance which left his side third on 15 points, four shy of Juventus and Napoli: “Today we were great in the first half and solid in the second. Congratulations to the boys.

“The important thing is for us to do well and I believe we’re getting better day by day.”

Lazio’s German forward Miroslav Klose (2nd R) celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Pescara during their Italian Serie A football match at Pescara’s Adriatico stadium. Lazio won 3-0.

Napoli’s 2-1 win meant Juve were denied the chance to pull clear of the chasing bunch, and Inter’s slim victory over Milan means four teams have pulled ever so slightly away from the rest.

Inter had boosted their title credentials last week and their fifth win in seven starts means they are fourth, and with the same points (15) as Lazio.

“There were two good points tonight, one was the way we approached this game and the second was how we handled it when we were a man down for the second half,” said Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni.

“We came into this game focused and started aggressively. We got the goal and when Milan came back into it we managed to restricted them in our area.”

With only seven goals from seven games the needs of Massimiliano Allegri’s AC Milan side are clear, but the coach was once again left lamenting conceding yet another goal from a set-piece.

“We’ve conceded again from a set-piece and this is something we need to put right,” said Allegri.

SC Napoli’s forward Goran Pandev (R) celebrates with teammate Edinson Cavani after scoring during the Serie A football match between SSC Napoli and Udinese at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples. Napoli won 2-1.

“Apart from the goal Inter did not create too many chances. We did, and it’s a shame we didn’t manage to put them away.”

Elsewhere, Cagliari battled to a 1-0 win away to Torino to grab their first win of the season thanks to Nene’s early strike from the penalty spot.

Catania maintained their solid start with a 2-0 win at home to struggling Parma and Fiorentina beat Bologna 1-0 at home.

Earlier Roma moved up to fifth, to finish the day four points shy of Inter, with a 2-0 win over Atalanta with goals from American Michael Bradley and Argentinian Erik Lamela.