Daily Times

MILAN: Juventus’ long crisis showed signs of being over on Sunday after their 2-0 win over fierce rivals Inter Milan put them in sight of Serie A’s top four, while Felipe Anderson fired Lazio to a 1-0 Rome derby triumph. Juve have spent almost the entire season lurching from one disaster to another but Adrien Rabiot’s brilliant first-time finish five minutes after the break and a late deflected shot from youngster Nicolo Fagioli earned them a fourth straight league win. Massimiliano Allegri’s side, who were without Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic and a raft of other players, are fifth in Italy’s top flight and two points off Lazio — who they face next weekend — and Atalanta in the final two Champions League places. Inter are a point behind Juve in seventh after their fifth defeat of the season, which came after they wasted a clutch of opportunities.

Rabiot’s opener came following superb play from the impressive Filip Kostic and five minutes after Hakan Calhanoglu had a piledriver tipped onto the bar by Wojciech Szczesny, one of a series of chances Inter had to take the lead before going behind. Edin Dzeko headed wide from inches out in the 27th minute, but the worst miss came three minutes before half-time when Denzel Dumfries somehow skied a simple close-range chance from Nicolo Barella’s cross-cum-shot. And after Danilo had a goal for Juve ruled out for handball in the 65th minute, Martinez drove a poor low finish straight at Szczesny at the end of a quick counter-attack. Fagioli then sealed the points with five minutes remaining after being fed by Kostic to give Juve hope their recent troubles might be coming to an end.

Lazio’s bragging rights: Anderson struck Lazio’s winner just before the half-hour mark in the Italian capital after Roma defender Roger Ibanez gave the ball away cheaply in his own area under pressure from Pedro. It was the 29-year-old’s third league goal of the campaign as he continues to play in the unfamiliar position of centre-forward in place of the injured Ciro Immobile. Italy striker Immobile was on the bench supporting Lazio despite a thigh problem leaving him unable to play and he watched his team go third with an assured performance. Known for his expansive brand of football, Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri has developed a team who are hard to beat and shorn of key man Sergej Milinkovic-Savic they soaked up Roma’s largely ineffectual attacking to claim a seventh clean sheet from their last eight matches. Roma were the nominal home side at the Stadio Olimpico but went closest to scoring four minutes after going behind when Nicolo Zaniolo’s deflected shot smacked off the crossbar. Jose Mourinho’s side failed to create enough to deserve a win and drop down a place to fifth following their fourth defeat of the season.

Earlier, Verona slumped to bottom place after losing 2-0 at promoted Monza, their eighth loss in a row. Second-half strikes from Carlos Augusto and Andrea Colpani handed Monza their first win in four matches and left 10-man Verona on five points from 13 matches. Monza stay 15th but are seven points clear of the relegation zone in their first ever Serie A season and were cheered on in the stands by stabbing victim Pablo Mari. On-loan Arsenal defender Mari was one of several people attacked last week in a Carrefour supermarket on the outskirts of Milan by a man who killed an employee after grabbing a knife from a shelf.