Juventus extend Serie A lead with comfortable win
Champions Juventus extended their lead at the top of Serie A to seven points with a comfortable 2-0 win at lowly Crotone on Wednesday.
Having seen their lead cut by Roma's 4-0 success over Fiorentina on Tuesday, second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Gonzalo Higuain kept Massimiliano Allegri's team on course for a sixth straight scudetto.
The defeat leaves Crotone languishing in 19th place and nine points from safety.
The Calabrians did not disgrace themselves and proved stubborn opposition for an hour.
But they ran out of steam as Croatian Mandzukic converted a rebound following a header from Kwadwo Asamoah on 60 minutes.
With 16 minutes left, Higuain calmly slotted home when faced with only goalkeeper Alex Cordaz to beat.
That took his season's tally to 16 league goals, just one shy of Serie A's top scorer Edin Dzeko, who bagged a brace for Roma on Tuesday.
Later on Wednesday, AC Milan are looking to end a three-match losing streak and resurrect their fading hopes of qualifying for Europe as they travel to Bologna, themselves smarting from a 7-1 rout by Napoli at the weekend.
Milan currently sit seventh, five points behind bitter city rivals Inter Milan in the last Europa League qualification spot.