Juve on cusp of Serie A title

Juventus fell behind to a first-half penalty before scoring three times after the break to beat Bologna 3-1 Saturday and close in on their seventh successive Serie A title. The Turin side capitalised on dreadful defending by the visitor as they moved seven points clear at the top and will clinch the title without playing Sunday in the unlikely event that challenger Napoli lose at home to Torino. Otherwise, they would need three more points from their last two games which include a home match against a Verona side who were relegated earlier Saturday in a 4-1 defeat at AC Milan. Bologna, comfortably sitting in midtable, took a shock lead in an incident that raised more questions about the use of the video assistant referee that is being trialled in Serie A and other domestic leagues this season.

Juventus are just one win away from a seventh successive Serie A title ? https://t.co/LhL7YaQgiU pic.twitter.com/pSK00z1Qum

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 5, 2018

Lorenzo Crisetig was pushed over by Daniele Rugani as he intercepted a weak pass out of goal by Gianluigi Buffon and the referee pointed to the spot amid Juve protests. Simone Verdi stepped up for the penalty but had to wait for three minutes as the referee checked the incident with VAR officials. There appeared to a communication problem as the referee went over to look at the pitchside monitor himself before confirming the decision. Verdi kept his cool and virtually rolled the ball into the goal as Buffon went the wrong way. Juve were gifted an equaliser seven minutes into the second half when Bologna's Sebastien de Maio turned Juan Cuadrado's cross into his own goal.

Douglas Costa is the best Juventus signing since Vidal

— hash (@hashim0307) May 5, 2018

Emil Krafth hit the post for Bologna but the visitor were sunk by more bad defending. Sami Khedira headed Juve in front after goalkeeper Antonio Mirante flapped half-heartedly at a long looping Douglas Costa cross from the left and Paulo Dybala swept in the third from another Costa cross after the Brazilian won an aerial battle with Vasilis Torosidis far too easily. Hakan Calhanoglu, Patrick Cutrone, Ignazio Abate and Fabio Borini shared the goals as Milan comfortably dispatched Verona in the early match at San Siro while Lee Seung-woo scored a consolation for the visitor. Verona were left seven points adrift of safety with two matches to play and went straight back down after being promoted last season.

8 - Patrick Cutrone has scored all his Serie A goals this season with shots from inside box. Predator. #MilanVerona

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) May 5, 2018

RESULTS Milan 4 (Calhanoglu 10, Cutrone 32, Abate 49, Borini 89) Verona 1 (Lee 84) Juventus 3 (De Maio 52-og, Khedira 63, Dybala 69) Bologna 1 (Verdi 30-P)   SUNDAY'S MATCHES Udinese v Inter, Chievo v Crotone, Genoa v Fiorentina, Lazio v Atalanta, Napoli v Torino, SPAL v Benevento, Sassuolo v Sampdoria and Cagliari v Roma   POINTS TABLE Teams P W D L GD Pts Juventus 36 29 4 3 61 91 Napoli 35 26 6 3 45 84 Roma 35 21 7 7 31 70 Lazio 35 21 7 7 41 70 Inter 35 18 12 5 32 66 Milan 36 17 9 10 10 60