Juventus crush Lecce to move closer to Serie A title

Italian champions Juventus continued their march towards their second successive Serie A title when they came from behind to beat 10-man Lecce 3-1 at home on Sunday.

Brazilian midfielder Emerson's goal in the 17th minute cancelled out Gennaro Del Vecchio opener early in the first half before two strikes by Robert Kovac and Alessandro Del Piero ensured the win for the Bianconeri.

Lecce had to play with 10-men for most of the second half as midfielder Alfonso Camorani was sent off in the 51st minute after receiving second yellow card.

The victory maintained Juve's position on top of the Serie A table on 70 points while Lecce are struggling at the bottom with only 15 points.

Del Vecchio grabbed a shocking lead for the visitors after only ten minutes when he connected with Mirko Vucinic's inch-perfect cross to head home.

Brazilian international Emerson leveled the score seven minutes later as he struck the ball into the net after being set-up by Romanian forward Adrian Mutu.

Defender Kovac scored his first goal in Serie A to put his side ahead two minutes before the break after he headed Mutu's free kick past Lecce keeper.

Veteran striker Del Piero sealed the victory for Juventus in the 88th minute from the penalty spot after Pavel Nedved was brought down by Davide Giorgino.

Elsewhere, AC Milan beat stubborn opponents Palermo 2-0 at Stadio La Favorita.

Filippo Inzaghi opened the score in the 72nd minute before Andriy Shevchenko guaranteed Milan their fourth Serie A win in a row from the penalty spot seven minutes from time.

Milan are in second place of the league table with 60 points, 10 points adrift of leaders Juventus.

In other matches, Inter Milan beat Udinese 3-1, Ascoli edged Messina 1-0, Cagliari tied Chievo 2-2, Siena defeated Sampdoria 1-0 and Empoli were held to a 1-1 draw with Treviso.