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Two goals in 10 first half minutes from Sebastian Giovinco and Fernando Llorente were enough for Juventus to close in on their third straight Serie A title with a 2-0 stroll at Udinese on Monday.
The win sent them eight points clear of AS Roma at the top on 87 points with five games remaining as a scudetto that has rarely looked in doubt heads towards the dominant Turin side.

Italy’s Giovinco opened the scoring with a sweet curling strike after 16 minutes and fellow World Cup hopeful Llorente of Spain tapped in his 14th of the season following a goalmouth scramble at a corner 10 minutes later.

“This was a potentially dangerous match and we could not afford to drop points,” Juve coach Antonio Conte said.
“The title race is still open and we did well to face this match with the right determination, approach and concentration.”

Without top goalscorer Carlos Tevez, it was left to Giovinco to provide Juve with thrust upfront and his second of the season was a signal to Italy boss Cesare Prandelli that he was not to be forgotten.

Cutting in from the right, he whipped in a superb shot with his left that flew past rookie Udinese keeper Simone Scuffet, who was unsighted by four players.

Tiny Giovinco was unlucky in the 69th minute when managing to squeeze off a shot after impressive close control in the area only to see his effort rebound back off the post.

“I’d been looking for that goal, as I’d not scored for a while. I’m glad it came in a match as important as this,” said man of the match Giovinco. — Reuters