Atalanta beat Udinese to level with Napoli

MILAN:

Atalanta moved level with Serie A leaders Napoli on Sunday after coming back from a goal down to beat spirited Udinese 2-1 and continue an unlikely title bid.

Mario Pasalic's first-time strike 11 minutes after the break and an unfortunate own goal from Isaak Toure moments later gave Atalanta their sixth straight league win.

Gian Piero Gasperini's side are second, joined on 25 points with Napoli who take on Inter Milan later on Sunday.

Atalanta trail Napoli despite having a significantly better goal difference as they have played a game more and in any case cannot finish the day in top spot.

Inter are a point behind the leading pair in third place so whatever happens at the San Siro either the champions or Napoli will lead the pack come Sunday night.

Regardless Atalanta have won eight in their all-competitions unbeaten run of 10 matches and have deserved to be considered contenders for what would be their first ever Serie A title.

Under Gasperini and the guidance of the Percassi family, who are from Bergamo, Atalanta have slowly worked their way up from provincal also-rans to become one of Italy's top teams and last season's Europa League winners.

Gasperini has admitted in recent weeks that his team can be considered Scudetto hopefuls and they showed resilience to battle back from going behind on the stroke of half-time to a thunderous strike from Hassane Kamara.

Udinese, who fully deserved to lead at the break following a brilliant first-half display, sit eighth on 16 points after their third straight defeat.

Fiorentina and Lazio can move back level on points with Atalanta later in their respective matches against Verona and Monza.

Crisis club Roma host Bologna with Italian media reporting that coach Ivan Juric will be sacked regardless of the result at the Stadio Olimpico, with Roberto Mancini the leading candidate to take over.

Juventus win derby to move into top three

Juventus edged a tense derby against city rivals Torino 2-0 on Saturday to move within one point of the summit of Serie A, while AC Milan dropped points in an entertaining draw at Cagliari.

Strikes in both halves from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz were enough to give Juventus victory over their fellow side from Turin and send the Old Lady up to third in the table with 24 points.

The victory, provisionally, leaves Juventus level on points with champions Inter Milan in second and one behind league leaders Napoli.

"It was another good performance where we brought the three points home," Juventus coach Thiago Motta told Sky Sport Italia.

"I am happy both with the result and the performance, in a derby on home turf, and thank our fans for their support."

With the pair in action against each other on Sunday, Juventus are ensured to have cut the gap to at least one of them this weekend.

However, Juve could nonetheless exit the Champions League places this week as Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio are all still to play, and trail Motta's side by just two points.

Torino's form has fallen off drastically in recent weeks after they had sat top of the table in September.

With one win in their last seven league outings, Torino now sit 11th in the league and 10 points adrift of their city rivals.

The deadlock was broken on 18 minutes when Weah tapped into an open net after Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had failed to hold onto Andrea Cambiaso's driven effort from wide on the left.

Both sides struggled to create chances in a match that will likely not live long in the memory of either set of fans.

Yildiz then ended Torino hopes of a draw six minutes from time with a stooping back-post header.

AC Milan fell further behind the title race after twice throwing away the lead in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Cagliari.

The Rossoneri remain seventh but are now four points off the Champions League places and seven behind pacesetters Napoli.

Rafael Leao scored twice in the first half to give Milan the lead after Nadir Zortea's early opener.

Cagliari struck back soon after the break through Gabriele Zappa before Tammy Abraham restored the visitors' lead, only for Zappa to score a sensational equaliser in the final stages.