Juventus surpass Milan to top Serie A

Rome, April 8 (IANS) Juventus regained the top spot in the Italian Serie A after they beat Palermo 2-0 while AC Milan lost to Fiorentina 1-2 at home to slip to second place.

Leonardo Bonucci and Fabio Quagliarella found the net for Juventus in the second half of a one-sided game Saturday. The win put Juve one point clear of Milan in a two-horse race for the Scudetto which looks likely to go down to the wire.

"I always prefer to lead because that way you depend on nobody except yourself," Juventus coach Antonio Conte was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

"We did well to take advantage of Milan's two recent slip-ups. There are still seven rounds to go and we have a tougher fixture list, but we also gained belief and are improving day after day," he added.

Carvalho Amauri scored an 89th-minute winner as Fiorentina recorded a shock 2-1 win over AC Milan.

Amauri fired home from outside the box to secure three much-needed points for Delio Rossi's side whose unexpected victory lifted them five points clear of the relegation zone.

Milan had taken the lead, going ahead through Zlatan Ibrahimovic's penalty, only to be pegged back by Stefan Jovetic before Amauri's winner.

AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri blamed his side's tiredness for the loss.

"It was an unexpected defeat and a complicated game thanks to Fiorentina. We felt tired, but once we had taken the lead the equalizer came far too quickly," he said.

"There was too much haste in trying to win the game, so we went for long balls when I was asking for short passes. It's a shame that we lost, because now Juve have the chance to go in front, although there are still seven games to go," he said.

Inter Milan twice came from behind to force a 2-2 draw against mid-table Cagliari which kept the Nerazzurri in the hunt to salvage Europa League qualification from a miserable campaign.

Lazio moved back into third place and in line for the final Champions League qualification spot with a 3-1 victory over Napoli.