Juventus beat Atalanta in Serie A tie

Turin (Italy), March 15 (IANS) Juventus bolstered their lead in Serie A with a 2-0 win here against Atalanta in a match originally scheduled for February 25.

Wednesday's triumph lifts Juve to 74 points from 28 matches, four more than Napoli in what has become a two-team race for the title, while Atalanta sits eighth in the table with 41 points, Efe news reported.

The visitors played well until the 29th minute, when Juve's Douglas Costa exploited an offensive giveaway to mount a furious counter that ended with a goal by Gonzalo Higuain.

Atalanta pressed hard for the equalizer in the second half only to see their options narrowed in the 79th minute as Gianluca Mancini was sent off after picking up a pair of yellow cards in the space of 30 seconds for fouls against Higuain and Giorgio Chiellini.

It took the hosts just two minutes to capitalise on the man advantage with a goal by Blaise Matuidi to settle the matter.