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12/16/2001. Juventus got themseleves back in the Scudetto race thanks to a hard-fought 2-0 win over Piacenza on Sunday afternoon.

The Bianconeri clinched their third consecutive league triumph in the Delli Alpi through goals on either side of the break sent home by Ferrara and Trezeguet respectively, but Piacenza bomber Dario Hubner missed an easy chance late in the game that would have allowed the visiting side to level the score.

With the three points Juve moved into the table’s third place, five points behind leaders Chievo and one more than Lazio, who failed to win their sixth consecutive match as they were beaten by Verona 3-1.

Lazio began the game on attack on the icy Verona pitch, but were unable to take the lead as Simone Inzaghi and Giuseppe Favalli both missed easy chances in front of Ferron. Verona had the merit to take the lead on their first real opportunity of the match through a nice strike by Colucci. Then referee Boriello awarded a contested penalty kick to Verona, who Oddo missed, but Camoranesi was there to net Marchegiani’s save of the spot attempt. Crespo got Lazio back into the game early in the second half, but the Nesta-less Lazio defense offered too many spaces to Verona’s three man attack, and Mutu was able to seal the win off for the Scaligeri on 72 minutes.

Atalanta jumped into the high places of the Serie A table by defeating struggling Parma 4-1 through goals by Berretta, Sala, Doni, and Comandini in the 23rd, 43rd, 59th, and 66th minutes respectively. The struggling Emilia side only played well in the first minutes of the match, and now coach Passarella could get the sack in light of his disastrous record with Parma: no league wins in five matches.

In light of the disastrous Bergamo road-trip, Parma sit in the table’s penultimate position on eleven points, four ahead of Venezia who notched their first win of the season through a late goal by Fabian Valtolina, and two behind Fiorentina who defeated Brescia thanks to a miracle strike on the stroke of the final whistle by Moretti.

In other matches, Lecce and Torino drew 1-1, while Bologna defeated Perugia 2-1.