Juventus came from behind to beat Torino 2-1 on Saturday with American midfielder Weston McKennie scoring for the first time since he joined the Italian champions on loan, while Inter Milan retained second place.
McKennie’s close-range header on 78 minutes put Juve level after Nicolas Nkoulou had given Torino a first-half advantage.
After McKennie’s equaliser, Leonardo Bonucci produced an almost identical header in the 89th minute to give Juve victory and put them on 20 points from ten games, a total littered with five draws.
Having seen their rivals win, Inter defeated Bologna 3-1 at home thanks to a goal from Romelu Lukaku and a double from Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi to sit on 21 points, two behind leaders AC Milan. Emanuel Vignato’s strike for Bologna was in vain.
Milan, who have not won Serie A since the 2010-11 season, face Sampdoria in Genoa on Sunday with a chance to stretch their lead.
Before Juve’s game in Turin, Cristiano Ronaldo was presented with a special jersey commemorating his 750th career goal.
But Ronaldo played a supporting role for once as 22-year-old McKennie, on loan from German club Schalke 04, scored a first Serie A goal and was mobbed by his teammates.
Bonucci said Juve had finally showed the qualities he wanted to see: “I have great respect for Torino but they succeeded in the first half because we were at half speed.
“In the second half we rediscovered what we have to show, that desire and intensity.”
Juve travel to Barcelona – who lost again in La Liga on Saturday – for a final Champions League group game on Tuesday, but both European giants are already assured of place in the last 16.
Earlier, Ciro Immobile scored his 10th goal of the season as Lazio won 2-1 at Spezia to climb to seventh.
The capital-city club bounced back from last weekend’s 3-1 home loss to Udinese to make it four wins in six league outings.
Simone Inzaghi’s side will now turn their attention to Tuesday’s crucial Champions League clash with Club Brugge at the Stadio Olimpico, where they need to avoid defeat to reach the knockout rounds for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign.
Lazio took the lead in the 15th minute as Immobile was played in on goal by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic before slipping the ball through the legs of Spezia goalkeeper Ivan Provedel.
Milinkovic-Savic doubled the advantage 12 minutes before half-time, whipping a fine free-kick into the top corner.
Spezia pulled one back with M’Bala Nzola’s powerful 64th-minute strike, but Lazio held on to move level on points with sixth-placed Roma, despite Andreas Pereira having an injury-time goal ruled out by VAR.
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