Fútbol Americano
2015-16 Italian Serie A
JUV 
4
Finalizado
 PAL
0
PA Sport 8y

Juventus move nine points clear at Serie A summit with Palermo thrashing

Juventus are within touching distance of a fifth straight Serie A title after pulling nine points clear at the top with a 4-0 home humbling of Palermo.

Napoli's defeat at Inter Milan on Saturday evening left the door wide open for Juve to secure a huge advantage heading into the five-game run-in, and Massimiliano Allegri's reigning champions made no mistake.

Sami Khedira's goal ensured the Bianconeri edged a difficult first half before Paul Pogba, Juan Cuadrado and Simone Padoin made it a chastening return to the Palermo bench for recalled boss Davide Ballardini.

Khedira opened the scoring in the 10th minute, the former Real Madrid midfielder chesting down and volleying Pogba's clever pass beyond Stefano Sorrentino.

Juve suffered an unexpected setback when midfielder Claudio Marchisio went off with a serious knee injury that could jeopardise his role with Italy at Euro 2016, with Mario Lemina taking his place.

But the Bianconeri did not let their heads drop and just before the half-hour mark Cuadrado's cross found Pogba for the French dynamo to smash a volley against Sorrentino's crossbar.

Nineteenth-placed Palermo might have equalised before the break, though, with Juve defender Andrea Barzagli clearing Aleksandar Trajkovski's goalbound shot off the line before Ivalyo Chochev fired just wide following a mistake by Khedira.

Champions-elect Juve took control of proceedings when play resumed.

Pogba quickly stuck Cuadrado's corner kick away at the far post and it fell to the latter to make the points safe in the 74th minute, the Colombian winger leaving Sorrentino with no chance of stopping his cleanly-struck rocket.

So porous was Palermo's defence there was even time for substitute Padoin to get among the goals with an easy conversion of Alvaro Morata's assist at the death.

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