Juventus moved into Serie A's Champions League positions on Saturday after convincingly beating AC Milan 2-0, as leaders Napoli prepare for a huge clash at title rivals Atalanta.
Goals in five second-half minutes from Samuel Mbangula and Timothy Weah gave Juventus a deserved win in Turin which pushed Thiago Motta's side up to fourth, a point ahead of Lazio who are at Verona on Sunday.
Unbeaten Juve snapped a run of three straight draws which had taken their tally of league stalemates to 13, with Saturday's win just their eighth in 21 fixtures in Italy's top flight.
Juventus end a three-game streak without a win to claim the bragging rights against AC Milan ⚫⚪#SSSerieA | #SerieA pic.twitter.com/BWOJQ1Drlv
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 18, 2025
"The boys are growing, match after match, and getting to the point that they can put in a performance like the one they did tonight," said Motta.
"That's because they all work really hard every day... today's win is the reward."
Milan stay eighth and are now six points from the top four, albeit with a game in hand at Bologna which was postponed due to flooding in October and is yet to be rescheduled.
Sergio Conceicao's team didn't show up for the second half of a match full of incident and attacking intent, after playing full part in a hugely entertaining opening period.
"Nothing is over as long as there are still games to play. We can't give up," said Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
"They won the individual battles... I'm angry but it is what it is, you can't be happy when you lose."
The away side could have easily been ahead in the 19th minute when Tijjani Reijnders met Theo Hernandez's smart low corner with a goal-bound volley which pinballed out for a goal kick.
And eight minutes later Juve goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio did well to push away Rafael Leao's powerful effort before a series of rebound shots were keep out by desperate blocks.
But Juve were on top almost immediately after the break and Mike Maignan could almost hardly believe his luck when, after pushing out Weah's well-struck effort Teun Koopmeiners shot straight at the France 'keeper with the rest of the goal gaping.
Maignan could do nothing however in the 59th minute when Mbangula's speculative shot took a massive deflection off Emerson Royal and flew into the Milan net
And five minutes later substitute Weah emulated his father by netting in a Juventus match with Milan 25 years after Ballon d'Or-winner George Weah did the same – for Milan against Juve.
Later Atalanta host Napoli hoping to close the four-point gap separating them from the leaders who are on a run of five straight wins.
Bologna continued their resurgence with a straightforward 3-1 win over Monza, who remain bottom of the table after six defeats in seven matches.
Vincenzo Italiano's side bounced back from Daniel Maldini's fourth-minute opener for the away side with strikes from Santiago Castro, Jens Odgaard and Riccardo Orsolini, goals which moved Bologna up to sixth on 33 points, four points behind Juve.