Juve breeze past Roma

Juventus opened up a three-point lead at the top of Serie A after seeing off Roma 4-1 at the Juventus Stadium. The victory was wrapped up within the opening 20 minutes with goals from Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Alessandro Matri putting I Bianconeri in the driving seat. Pablo Osvaldo pulled a goal back from the penalty spot for I Giallorossi, but Zdenek Zeman's men were unable to find a way back into the game and Sebastian Giovinco added a late fourth to leave Roma eight points behind the hosts in the Serie A table. The first goal arrived in the 11th minute, with Pirlo despatching one of his trademark free-kicks, opting for a low shot which took a slight deflection off the wall on its way past Maarten Stekelenurg. The second goal was a gift for Juve in the 16th minute as Leandro Castan handled the ball inside the area and Vidal stepped up to score from the spot. Three minutes later, the contest was practically over as Matri broke free to meet Stekelenburg and beat him with a powerful shot which released all the pent-up frustration at not having previously opened his account for the season. It could have turned even worse for Roma in the 36th minute when Mirko Vucinic grazed the top of the crossbar. Perhaps with one eye already on Tuesday's UEFA Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk, Juve appeared to take it a little easier in the second half. They conceded a goal in the 69th minute when Leonardo Bonucci shoved Mattia Destro inside the penalty area and Osvaldo converted the spot-kick. Juve had a goal disallowed four minutes later, with Bonucci in an offside position when he pounced to score after Paolo De Ceglie's shot hit the post. Osvaldo had a shot saved by Gianluigi Buffon before Giovinco wrapped up the win in the last minute. He raced through, nudged the ball past Stekelenburg and then slid it into the open goal to wrap up the victory. FIFA