Milan // Mario Mandzukic, Stefano Sturaro and Simone Zaza struck in the second half as champions Juventus moved up to fifth place in Serie A with a convincing 3-0 win at Palermo on Sunday.
Juventus had claimed a third consecutive league win for the first time only last week and on Wednesday beat Manchester City for the second time in succession to secure passage to the last 16 of the Uefa Champions League.
Those wins confirmed Massimiliano Allegri’s men, who sat only four points above the relegation zone six weeks ago, had finally turned the corner after a disastrous start to their title defence.
Allegri admitted it had been a “good November” as Juventus closed to within six points of leaders Inter Milan and four behind second-placed Napoli.
But he played down suggestions he is hoping Monday’s top-of-the-table clash between the pair at Napoli’s San Paolo stadium finishes a draw.
“It’s never to beat Palermo away, but that’s us winning our second successive away game and we’re in the last 16 of the Champions League. We’re getting better,” Allegri told Mediaset.
“I’m not hoping for anything (from the Napoli v Inter game). All we’re focusing on is fighting our way back up the table.”
After Juve had shaded a balanced first half at the Renzo Barbera stadium, Mandzukic broke the deadlock when he rose above Aljaz Struna to head Paulo Dybala’s curling delivery past a beaten Stefano Sorrentino on 54 minutes.
Palermo coach Davide Ballardini said Mandzukic’s opener took the wind out their sails.
“For nearly an hour we played great. But after Juve’s goal we took the foot off the gas a little and made it hard on ourselves,” said Ballardini.
It was a joyous return for Argentina striker Dybala, who quit Palermo last season ahead of a 32 million euros move to the Turin giants, and in the second half he sent a header wide of Sorrentino’s upright.
But more was to come from the visitors, who put the match beyond all reach a minute from the final whistle when Sturaro ran on to Paul Pogba’s perfectly-weighted ball on the edge of the area to sweep it past Sorrentino.
Allegri had replaced Dybala with Zaza minutes earlier and when the striker found himself on a two-on-one alongside Alvaro Morata, he collected the Spaniard’s return to feint past Andrea Rispoli and beat Sorrentino down low at his near post in added-on time.
Juventus moved up one place to fifth, one point ahead of AC Milan and are also just three behind their biggest title rivals from the past two years, Roma, who suffered a shock 2-0 home defeat to Atalanta.
Already shell-shocked by their humiliating 6-1 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday, Roma’s defeat heaped the pressure on coach Rudi Garcia.
Garcia hit back at suggestions the impact of Roma’s heavy defeat in Europe -- a year after a 7-1 reverse at home to Bayern Munich -- had left his side shell-shocked.
“No, I don’t think so. We’ll prove that by getting the results we need in the future,” Garcia told Mediaset.
After seeing Roma fail to respond to Alejandro Gomez’s 40th-minute strike and German Denis’s spot-kick on 82 minutes, Garcia said he won’t look for excuses after a display for which he said the whole team felt “responsible”.
“There’s not much to say, we didn’t have a winning attitude and we made a lot of mistakes. Now, we have to keep quiet and get to work.
“It’s been a tough week, I know that. But the squad can show its mettle by putting this behind us. We’re all disappointed, but we’re all responsible.”
Crisis-hit Lazio, meanwhile, saw two second-half goals by Miroslav Klose chalked off on their way to a fourth defeat in five consecutive matches away to Empoli.
Stefano Pioli’s men never recovered from a fifth-minute opener by Lorenzo Tonelli despite a stirring second-half performance that had Empoli’s defence on the ropes.
Lazio remain in 10th spot at 11 points behind Inter, with Empoli moving five points clear of the drop zone up to 12th.
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