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01/27/2002. CHIEVO-Juventus

The Sunday night match of the Serie A's 20th round ended with a deserved triumph for Juve, who defeated Chievo 3-1 at the end of the most convincing outing of their season.

As expected, both teams started very strongly, putting a big pressure in the middle, and the rhythm of the match was frenetic. Eriberto gave Juve some trouble with a couple of insertions on the right wing, but the bianconeri were very effective as well with their quick counter-attacks.

Both teams seemed capable of taking the lead, and Juve managed to in the 18th minute. Following a corner kick, a header by Trezeguet put the ball in the middle of the box where veteran defender Ciro Ferrara didn't miss the chance, giving the bianconeri the lead.

Chievo reacted and after only three minutes Buffon was great on a bicycle kick by Eriberto. But the biggest chance of the first half came in the 34th and was once again for the Brazilian winger, who shot wide despite being all alone in front of Buffon.

The bianconeri were simply outstanding in the first 15 minutes of the second half. In the 2nd, Juve scored the 2-0 thanks to an own-goal by Chievo defender Moro, who deflected a shot by Del Piero inside his own net.

Eight minutes later, the referee whistled a dubious penalty kick, following a foul by Lupatelli on Del Piero, but Juve's skipper kicked badly and the former Roma keeper saved without worries.

The guests kept on dominating, but in the 14th Chievo scored the unexpected 1-2 goal with Marazzina, who took profit of a superb supply by Corini to blast the ball under Buffon's legs and into the back of the net.

Boosted by the unexpected goal, Chievo came alive and Juve looked a bit in trouble but in the 27th there was another penalty kick for Lippi's men, following a Moro hand ball. This time Del Piero didn't miss the chance and scored the 3-1 which closed the match.

This fundamental win allowed Juve to keep pace with league leaders Roma, who are now three points above them, and recover two points from Inter. As for Chievo, the Verona team will have the chance to bounce back from this defeat on Wednesday, when they play their postponed match with Lazio.