Juventus overcome Inter Milan 3-2; Milan, Atalanta win in Serie A

Milan, April 29 (IANS) Juventus found two goals in the last five minutes to seal a stunning 3-2 comeback win over a gritty 10-man Inter Milan in the Derby dItalia as the Serie A defending champions took a provisional four-point lead over second-placed Napoli.

Juventus on Saturday led after Douglas Costa's goal in the 13th minute, before the home side took the lead in the second half through Mauro Icardi and an own-goal from Andrea Barzagli. Juventus pulled level through a Juan Cuadrado deflected strike in the 87th minute before Gonzalo Higuain headed home the winner two minutes later.

The win kept Juventus in the hunt for their seventh consecutive Serie A title, having taken a four-point lead at the top with three matches left for them to play. Title-chasing Napoli play Fiorentina on Sunday.

The loss at the San Siro Stadium left Inter Milan at the fifth spot, one behind Lazio as the battle heats up for the spots in the European competitions.

Inter fell behind in the 13th minute when Cuadrado swung in a great cross from the right-hand side with Blaise Matuidi flicking it into the path of Douglas Costa, who volleyed home first to give Juventus a stunning lead.

Minutes later, the sending off of midfielder Matías Vecino didn't help the hosts as the Uruguyan went in for a strong challenge that caught forward Mario Mandzukic on the ankle. After the referee initially issued a booking, he changed it to a red card after consulting with VAR to leave Inter with 10 men.

Inter turned the heat on Juventus in the second half with Mauro Icardi heading in a free-kick from Joao Cancelo in the 51st minute for the equaliser before veteran defender Barzagli turned a left cross from Ivan Perisic into his net as Inter took the lead in the 64th minute.

Juventus, however, came up with all their firepower against a tiring Inter side, bringing in attackers Paulo Dybala and Federico Bernardeschi in place of Sami Khedira and Mandzukic.

Cuadrado attempted a shot at goal from a tight angle on the right and the ball was deflected in by Inter defender Milan Skriniar.

Moments later Bernardeschi was fouled 25 yards from goal to the left of the Inter box. Higuain headed past goalkeeper Samir Handanovic the free-kick from Dybala as the visitors secured a 3-2 win.

Meanwhile on Sunday, AC Milan earned a 2-1 away win over Bologna, while Atalanta made a 3-1 home win against Genoa.

Milan attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring 34 minutes into the game, while his teammate Giacomo Bonaventura added the second goal in the last minute of the first half.

Bologna defender Sebastien De Maio narrowed the gap in the 74th minute, but it was not enough to stave off defeat.

Milan now occupy the seventh position in the La Liga standings with 57 points, while Bologna remain in 12th place with 39 points.

Sixth-placed Atalanta beat 11th-placed Genoa 3-1 in the same round, with Musa Barrow getting an early 1-0 lead in the 16th minute and midfielder Bryan Cristante scoring another just six minutes later.

Atalanta's Josip Ilicic added the third goal 16 minutes before the end of the game, and with five minutes to go, Genoa defender Miguel Veloso managed to prevent a total rout, earning the only goal for his side.

Elsewhere, Sampdoria thrashed 16th-placed Cagliari 4-1 to remain in the eighth position with 54 points, while Cagliari is in 16th with 33.

Bottom-placed Benevento snatched a point in the league table after a late 3-3 draw against Udinese, who hold the 15th position with 34 points.

Struggling Spal earned a 3-1 away win over Hellas Verona, who remain in the 19th place with 25 points, while Spal jumped to 17th with 32 points.

Also on Sunday, Crotone overpowered Sassuolo 4-1 to hold the 14th position with 34 points, three points behind 13th-placed Sassuolo.