Inter beat Roma to take top spot, Juve down Torino

(Reuters) – Inter Milan beat AS Roma 1-0 to replace them atop Serie A thanks to a Gary Medel strike while Juventus returned to winning ways with a last-gasp Juan Cuadrado goal securing a 2-1 triumph over local rivals Torino on Saturday.

Stevan Jovetic set up Medel who hit a low drive from outside the area after 31 minutes to give Inter the lead.

Roma’s Mohamed Salah and Edin Dzeko missed chances and the visitors’ miserable night continued when Miralem Pjanic handled after 73 minutes and was dismissed for a second yellow card.

The defeat ended Roma’s five-game winning streak, leaving them in second place on 23 points, one behind Inter who recorded their seventh clean sheet of the campaign.

“A team is like a house, if you don’t have solid foundations, it will sink,” Inter coach Roberto Mancini told Sky Sport Italia. “We had a great game against an excellent Roma side, so 1-0 was a good result.”

Juventus hosted Torino in the Turin derby hoping to avert further crisis following last week’s defeat by Sassuolo, the champions’ fourth loss of the season.

Paul Pogba opened the scoring after 19 minutes when he gathered a Cuadrado pass in his stride and flicked the ball up before slamming a half-volley past Daniele Padelli.

Torino equalised in the 51st when Cesare Bovo fired his free kick right at team mate Daniele Baselli, only to slam the rebound into the roof of Gianluigi Buffon’s net.

The winner came in the second minute of stoppage time when Alex Sandro crossed for Cuadrado who slid in ahead of Bruno Peres to score from close range.

“We have to continue to show this will and this win should give us the motivation to believe in the Scudetto until the end,” Cuadrado told Mediaset, “From now on, every game will be a final.”

Juve moved above Torino into 10th place, with Giampiero Ventura’s side dropping to 11 also on 15 points.

Wins on Sunday for third-placed Napoli and Fiorentina in fourth, with the former visiting Genoa and the latter hosting Frosinone, would see both move level on points with Inter.

There are also four other matches on Sunday, including AC Milan’s trip to Lazio.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)