Pirlo rescues Juve in Turin derby
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Turin, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Andrea Pirlo scored on the stroke of full time to lift Juventus to a dramatic 2-1 victory over Torino in Sunday's heated Turin derby at Juventus Stadium.
The hosts went in front after 15 minutes when they were awarded a penalty stemming from a dubious hand ball in the box. Arturo Vidal took advantage, though, slotting the ensuing attempt into the bottom corner.
The lead lasted just seven minutes as Torino got back on level terms in stunning fashion. Bruno Peres dribbled the length of the field and capitalized on minimal pressure from the Juventus defense by slamming a thunderous strike off the post and into the back of the net.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It appeared as though the two sides would share the spoils, but Pirlo netted the winner with virtually the last kick of the ball, hammering home a square pass from the top of the penalty area.
The win sees Juventus maintain its position at the summit of the Serie A table, brining the club to 34 points through 13 matches.
AS Roma kept pace with Juventus at the top of the table by defeating Inter Milan, 4-2, at the Stadio Olimpico to remain three points back of top spot.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gervinho and Jose Holebas of Roma exchanged goals with Andrea Ranocchia and Pablo Osvaldo of Inter, but Miralem Pjanic played the role of the match-winner by netting two goals in the final half-hour to bring the hosts to 31 points on the season.
Genoa moved into third place in the Italian flight by claiming a 3-0 victory at Cesena on Sunday.
Alessandro Matri and Luca Antonelli scored a goal apiece inside the opening eight minutes, and Matri squandered a chance to make it three for the visitors when he failed to convert a penalty at the half-hour mark.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An own goal from Massimo Volta in the 43rd minute ultimately saw Genoa go three goals to the good, while a missed penalty from Emmanuel Cascione in the 63rd minute completed a miserable outing for the home side.
Jeremy Menez bagged a brace at the San Siro on Sunday as AC Milan claimed a 2-0 victory over Udinese.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 62nd minute as Maurizio Domizzi was issued a red card for denying Milan a scoring opportunity. Menez stepped up and converted the penalty to hand the hosts the lead.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michael Essien picked up a second yellow card in the 71st minute to see Milan also reduced to 10, but Menez struck just four minutes later to make sure of the victory.
Fiorentina cruised to a 4-0 win at Cagliari behind a brace from Matias Fernandez and additional goals from Mario Gomez and Juan Cuadrado, while Edgar Barreto netted the winner as Palermo earned a 2-1 win over lowly Parma.
Wrapping up Sunday's Serie A action, Empoli was held to a 0-0 home draw by Atalanta.