Juventus enters top three after defeating derby, AC Milan remains in thrilling contest

Juventus won a tense derby against city rivals Torino 2-0 on Saturday to move within a 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 a win over their Turin teammate and send the Old Lady to third in the table with 24 points. The win, temporarily, leaves Juventus level on points, with champions Inter Milan in second and one behind league leaders Napoli.

“It was another good performance where we got three points,” Juventus coach Thiago Motta told Sky Sport Italia.

“I am happy with both the result and the performance in the derby on home ground and thank our fans for their support.”

With the pair facing each other on Sunday, Juventus are sure to close the gap on at least one of them this weekend.

However, Juve could still miss out on the Champions League places this week with Atalanta, Fiorentina and Lazio still to play, and are just two points behind Motta's side.

Torino's form has declined drastically in recent weeks after topping the table in September.

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

The deadlock was broken in the 18th minute when Weah tapped into an open net after Vanja Milinkovic-Savic failed to hold on to Andrea Cambiasso's inspired effort from the left.

Both sides struggled to create chances in a match that probably won't live long in the memory of either group of fans.

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

'One step back'

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

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

Rafael Leao scored twice in the first half to give Milan the lead after an early start from Nadir Zortia.

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

“This draw is clearly a step back,” AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca told DAZN, referencing his team's midweek 3-1 win in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

“Our problem today was our defence, we lacked aggression, we let them cross too much, we lost too many aerial duels, it is not possible to win matches in those conditions.”

For the home team, the draw takes them to 16th position with 10 points, one point above the drop zone.

Zortia gave Cagliari the perfect start two minutes in when he fired in at the back post following a corner.

After 13 minutes, Leao equalized for Milan with a lobbed finish after being sent behind the defense by a brilliant lofted pass from Tijjani Rijnders.

The Portuguese winger doubled up five minutes before the break as Youssouf Fofana fired a precise long ball to his feet and fired it past the goalkeeper to give Milan the advantage.

Fofana was at fault nine minutes after the break as he inadvertently played Zappa in behind his defense and the Cagliari player passed beyond the onrushing Mike Maignan.

Abraham seemed to have completed the comeback for Fonseca's side with his second goal of the season when he scored in the 69th minute.

But Zappa equalized again for Cagliari with a minute remaining through a powerful volley from a looping cross.

Parma came from behind to beat bottom of the table Venezia 2–1 away from home.

Hans Nicolucci Caviglia opened the scoring for the hosts, but goals either side of the break from Emmanuel Valeri and Ange-Yon Bony left Parma in 14th, three points clear of the relegation zone.

The highlight of Sunday's action is the visit of 2023 Scudetto winners Naples to defending champions Inter Milan.