Football
PA Sport 8y

Buffon sets record in Juventus' win; Napoli keep pace; AC Milan draw

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made Serie A history as Juventus remained top of Serie A with a 4-1 win at Torino in the Turin derby on Saturday.

Needing to survive just four minutes to pass Sebastiano Rossi's all-time league record of 929 minutes without conceding a goal, Buffon did so with ease before Juventus moved 2-0 ahead through Paul Pogba and Sami Khedira.

Eventually Buffon was beaten for the first time in the league since Jan. 10 by an Andrea Belotti penalty, yet the Bianconeri made sure of the points with a brilliant third through substitute Alvaro Morata, who notched again late on in a result that extended Juve's unbeaten run to 20 league games.

The gloss was taken off the victory somewhat by Sami Khedira's 87th-minute red card, which he seemingly accrued for something he said to the referee.

Napoli overcame a half-time deficit to defeat Geona 3-1 to stay three points behind Juventus.

Tomas Rincon opened the scoring for the visitors in the 10th minute as Tomas Rincon's powerful right-footed shot from outside the box caught goalkeeper Pepe Reina off guard, and Genoa held a 1-0 half-time lead.

But Gonzalo Higuain scored six moments after the break when Elseid Hysaj's smart ball forward into the box found him in plenty of space, and then he put Napoli ahead in the 81st minute with a curling 16-yard strike in off the right post.

Omar El Kaddouri added a third goal in stoppage time for Napoli as he slotted home Manolo Gabbiadini's cross.

Lazio's slim hopes of qualifying for the Europa League all but ended following a 1-1 draw against AC Milan at the San Siro.

Stefano Pioli's men took the lead through Marco Parolo, but the home side were level before the break through Carlos Bacca's strike.

Senad Lulic was sent off for a second booking with six minutes of the game remaining but Lazio held on for their eighth away draw of the season.

The Biancocelesti took the lead after nine minutes when poor defending allowed Parolo to head home from close range, much to the annoyance of Sinisa Mihajlovic who showed his displeasure on the sidelines.

The strength and persistence of Luiz Adriano and Bacca had been hard for the visitors to keep in check and the pair combined just six minutes later to equalise.

Fiorentina were held to a 0-0 draw by relegation battlers Frosinone -- but the point was enough to lift them back into fourth place above Inter Milan.

Frosinone goalkeeper Nicola Leali produced a string of fine saves to deny the Viola, who twice hit the woodwork through Nikola Kalinic and Borja Valero, while home midfielder Oliver Kragl fired a free kick against the crossbar.

Both sides went close to grabbing a winner in the closing stages. Substitute Aleksandar Tonev's shot flashed just wide and at the other end Kalinic headed just off target.

Sassuolo's slim chances of qualifying for Europe have all but ended despite coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Udinese at the Stadio Citta del Tricolore.

With Inter Milan dropping points at Roma on Saturday, Sassuolo could have closed the gap on the Europa League places to eight points with a win.

But Duvan Zapata scored his sixth goal of the campaign to give Stefano Colantuono's men an early lead.

The hosts equalised in the 64th minute when Matteo Politano headed in Federico Peluso's cross but the Neroverdi remain seventh while Udinese are now four points above the relegation zone in 16th.

Riccardo Meggiorini netted a first-half winner as Chievo claimed three points from a 1-0 win over Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Meggiorini's effort midway through the first half was enough to secure victory as the home side failed to get anything from the game despite having seven shots on target.

Sampdoria enjoyed 65 percent possession but it was Meggiorini's header which separated the two sides as Valter Birsa's cross found the Italian forward after 24 minutes for his fifth goal of the season.

Atalanta recorded their first victory in 15 games to potentially save manager Edy Reja's job as they defeated nine-man Bologna 2-0.

Reja had received no assurances on his position following his club's alarming slide, which was eventually halted by first-half goals from Alejandro Gomez and Alessandro Diamanti, before Ibrahima Mbaye and Daniele Gastaldello were both dismissed late on.

Ex-West Ham forward Diamanti squared for Gomez to break the deadlock with a close-range finish before scoring himself as Mauricio Pinilla teed him up.

Pinilla then had a penalty saved, yet it did not prove costly as Mbaye was sent off for a lunge on Gomez and Gastaldello, booked when he conceded the spot kick, followed him for two cautions.

Struggling Carpi secured an important 2-1 win against bottom side Hellas Verona with both sides desperate for points to keep them in Serie A.

The visitors got on the scoresheet three minutes before half-time when Antonio Di Gaudio found the back of the net but Verona came back fighting in the second half and levelled the score just after the hour mark through Artur Ionita.

Verona only managed to keep the score level for three minutes when Kevin Lasagna scored his fourth goal of the season and things got worse for the bottom side when two yellows in eight minutes saw Ante Rebic get sent off in the last minute of normal time.

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