The Juventus shock. The leader consolidated his lead in the standings after his success at home against his runner-up, Napoli (3-1), on Saturday, during the clash of the 7th day. While Cristiano Ronaldo remained silent, Mario Mandzukic (26th, 49th) and Leonardo Bonucci (76th) answered the opening of the score by Dries Mertens (10th). In the standings, Juve are six points ahead of Naples.
Too strong, Juventus. The Bianconeri defeated Naples (3-1) in the clash of the 7th day on Saturday at Juventus Stadium and scored their seventh victory in as many days. A logical victory that allowed the Turinese to take a six-point lead over their runner-up and opponent of the day.
However, Naples started the match perfectly thanks to a well-oiled 4-4-2. And the choices of Carlo Ancelotti may have paid off, at first : suffocated by the Neapolitan dry cleaning since the beginning of the match, Leonardo Bonucci missed a relaunch, recovered by Allan. The midfielder served Callejon who had only to set back for Mertens a few meters from the goal. The Belgian forward pushed the ball to the bottom of the net and caused the stupor of Juventus Stadium (0-1, 10′).
But Juventus is diesel. Little by little, the Turinese managed to settle in the opposing camp. Cristiano Ronaldo – still great today – had fun with Hysaj before centering for Mandzukic. The Croatian’s six-metre lead finished the race with the powerless goal by David Ospina (1-1, 26′).
Ronaldo ran, Matuidi ran.
Turinoise domination was confirmed in the second half. On a shot from Ronaldo on the post, Mandzukic followed and scored a double (2-1, 49′). In suffering, Naples was not helped by its laterals. While Hysteraj had a nightmare match, Mario Rui was expelled for two gross fouls on Paolo Dybala (58′).
Finally, Bonucci, the man responsible for opening the scoring in Naples, managed to be forgiven : on corner, he threw himself to tackle a ball deflected to the first post by Cristiano Ronaldo and scored the third goal. The Portuguese was in every shot, and could have scored a great free-kick in the first period without a great Ospina parade. On the level of satisfaction, the Juve milieu, worn by a bluffing Matuidi Blaise, ended up suffocating that of Naples. By taking a six-point lead and showing such strength, Juventus sent a strong signal to the other teams : it doesn’t intend to leave its title to anyone.