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Juve managed to at least dull the painful memories of the last match they played at the Renato Curi stadium by beating Perugia by the same margin as they lost by last season thanks to a great goal for Filippo Inzaghi. The strike in the 59th minute marks his 50th goal in the League for the Bianconeri and though long in coming was well worth the wait.

The home side will complain that it came when the impressive Marco Materazzi was off the pitch receiving treatment for a foul by Zinedine Zidane, but they will not be able to dispute it's quality. Perugia also have a great performance from Mazzantini between the posts to thank for the tight result.

The game began with Perugia pushing forward looking for the all-important opener, with shots from Luca Saudati and the South Korean Ahn, whose influence grew as the match went on, but the finishing was rarely good enough to trouble Edwin Van der Sar.

Paolo Montero had a solid game at the back, while Edgar Davids had a battle on his hands against Blasi and Ze Maria in particular in the centre of the park for Serse Cosmi's outfit.

It took the Bianconeri the best part of 20 minutes to fashion a chance for themselves, and it came courtesy of David Trezeguet who Gianluca Zambrotta found in space on the edge of the box. But the Frenchman fired straight at Mazzantini.

Then on 25 minutes Perugia responded with a close range header from their Greek striker Vryzas, after Saudati did well to float a ball in over the Juve back-line. Van der Sar was able to take the ball without undue worry.

The second half of the half was dominated by the Bianconeri, with Zambrotta, Zidane and Inzaghi all getting chances. But with Materazzi doing an excellent job at the back and the Perugia keeper providing a spectacular display of shot stopping, the half finished all-square at 0-0.

Juve began the second half by raising a gear, with Perugia not able to get into the visitors half for the first six minutes. In the 48th minute Zidane put a ball narrowly wide from a free-kick, while five minutes later Ahn reminded Carlo Ancelotti's lads that Perugia were not mere spectators, by firing a shot that Van der Sar did well to keep out.

Then in the 58th minute a clash in the air between Zidane and Perugia's central defender, Materazzi, saw the Perugia man hobble off with a dead-leg. He then found himself standing on the sidelines as Davids slipped a ball through from the midfield to Inzaghi who then struck a ball under the on-rushing Perugia keeper to make it 50 for himself and 1-0 for Juve.

At that point Juve, clearly in the ascendancy, and Inzaghi buzzing with his half century of goals in the bag, the number 9 first tried a scissor-kick (just wide) and then a volley from a pass from Zidane (just high).

Perugia pushed forward and procured a couple of free-kicks on the edge of the box. First Materazzi stepped up, and the resulting ricochet off Alessio Tacchinardi's arm in the wall brought howls of "penalty!" from Perugia. But arguably it would have been hard for the Juve man to pull his arm away given the pace of the shot. The second free-kick from Ze Maria did no better.

The final shot of the game fell to Antonio Conte who came on for Trezeguet. The Juve captain who had been suffering with the flu most of the week showed that he had fully recovered with a 35-yard shot which almost crept in between the keepers outstretched arm and the crossbar. But once again the ex-Gianluca Pagliuca understudy at Inter Milan kept the shot out.

Now the Bianconeri and the rest of the chasing pack will be hoping that Milan do everyone a favour in the evening fixture at the San Siro to slow down the progress of Fabio Capello's lads. The gap between Roma and Juve before the evening game is down to three points.

PERUGIA 0-1 JUVENTUS

Goals: 59 Inzaghi

PERUGIA (3-4-1-2):Mazzantini; Rivalta (77 Tarana), Materazzi, Di Loreto; Paris, Ze Maria, Blasi, Pieri; Ahn; Vryzas, Saudati. Manager: Cosmi Subs: Tardioli, Sogliano, Hilario, Milanese, Goretti, Tarana, Tatti.

JUVENTUS (4-3-1-2): Van der Sar; Birindelli (64 Paramatti), Montero, Iuliano, Pessotto; Zambrotta, Tacchinardi, Davids; Zidane; Inzaghi (86 Kovacevic), Trezeguet (74 Conte). Manager: Ancelotti
Subs: Carini, Ferrara, Paramatti, O'Neill, Conte, Del Piero, Kovacevic.

Referee: Collina
Cautions: Montero, Blasi, Zambrotta, Tarana