Gonzalo Higuain scored the winner as Juventus edged the Argentine’s former club Napoli 2-1 in Turin on Saturday to stretch their lead to five points at the top of Italy’s Serie A.
Higuain, who scored a Serie A record 36 goals for Napoli last season, has become a hate figure at the San Paolo stadium after moving to Juventus for an Italian transfer record fee of €90 million (Dh363m).
Although he can expect a hostile welcome from Napoli fans, many of whom burnt his shirt in disgust at his move, when the southerners host the champions on April 2, Higuain was mindful not to celebrate after scoring his seventh league goal of the season.
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A superb volley by Leonardo Bonucci gave Juventus a 50th minute lead, only for Jose Callejon to beat Gianluigi Buffon four minutes later from Lorenzo Insigne’s superb chip.
A tense and tactically-tight affair, which saw a number of clashes between players, looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw.
But when Higuain’s cross for Sami Khedira spilt back into the striker’s path, he made no mistake with a first-time drive that beat Pepe Reina down low on 70 minutes.
Juventus, aiming for a record sixth consecutive ‘scudetto’ this season, now have a five-point lead on Roma ahead of their visit to Empoli.
“It was important to win tonight,” said Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri.
“If we drew, Roma could have pulled level on points with us tomorrow. Instead, we won and now Napoli are seven points behind us. I think whoever came to see us tonight had a good time.”
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