Juve battle through fog to win at Bologna

Juventus gave their hopes of reaching the Champions League a boost on Saturday after a hard-fought 2-0 win at Bologna following Roma’s thumping 4-1 victory at fancied Atalanta.

Goals in each half from Alvaro Morata and Juan Cuadrado ensured that Juve joined Roma at five points from the league’s top four positions.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side came away with the three points following a dogged performance at a ground which has proved tough terrain for some of Serie A’s leading sides and was enveloped in thick fog for almost the entire match.

Juve sit a sobering 12 points behind champions and league leaders Inter Milan, who crushed Salernitana 5-0 on Friday, but while a title challenge is almost certainly out of the question this year a place in Europe’s top club competition is something they can fight for.

How far they sit from that target come the end of the weekend depends on how injury-hit Napoli fare at fellow title-chasers AC Milan on Sunday night.

Luciano Spalletti’s team are fourth but can go second with a win in northern Italy.

Currently third and a further point ahead of Juve and Roma are Atalanta despite being hit by a classically clinical performance by a Jose Mourinho team.

Juventus won in a similar style to Roma, with Morata pinching the lead for the away side on the break in the sixth minute, the Spain forward finishing after launching the attack and blasting home after a give-and-go with Federico Bernadeschi.

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Juve were on the back foot for much of the match and home fans were ready to celebrate an equaliser in the 22nd minute when Mattias Svanberg lined up a bicycle kick from Mark Arnautovic’s deflected cross, but the Swede’s acrobatic effort flashed just wide.

After defending for the best part of 25 minutes from the start of the second half, Colombian Cuadrado sealed the win with a long range strike which took a wicked deflection Aaron Hickey.