Juventus Pip Sampdoria, Roma’s top four hopes shattered – Reuters

Adrien Rabiot ensured Juventus continued their run to European football with a decisive brace in his side’s 4-2 Serie A win over struggling Sampdoria.

France midfielder Rabiot put Juve ahead with a first-half header then pushed them back in the 64th minute after Samp stunned the home crowd by equalizing before the break with two early goals by Tommaso Augello and Filip Djuricic.

Young Matias Soule nodded in stoppage time to make the scoreline more flattering against Samp who is down and 12 points from safety.

Rabiot came close to leaving Juve in the summer but became a key figure in Massimiliano Allegri’s side, his brace taking his total to seven in the league and moving the Turin giants within four points of European places.

“We need to concentrate more throughout the game and not be distracted just because we scored two goals and were more comfortable,” Rabiot told DAZN.

“We had to win to prepare Freiburg well. I’m happy to score so many goals here, hopefully I can score more by the end of the season. »

Seventh-placed Juventus on 38 points are contesting a 15-point penalty for illicit transfer activity and, as things stand, would be second if their appeal is successful.

They would still be 15 points behind champions-elect Napoli, but given the inconsistent form of other top Serie A clubs, they would be a strong bet to reach the Champions League next season.

Missing a host of big names, including Paul Pogba who suffered another injury in Sunday morning’s training session, Juve looked set for a cruise against an equally exhausted Samp when headers Bremer and Rabiot had them two ahead in the middle of the opening period.

But two goals in just over a minute stunned the home fans, Augello crashing in Samp’s opener on the rebound in the 31st minute before Djuricic swept away the leveler from Alessandro Zanoli’s low pass.

Rabiot then stepped in with the key goal, which Samp said came after the 27-year-old managed to control the ball, an impression post-match footage seemed to confirm.

Dusan Vlahovic hit a penalty on the post then swung a header into the woodwork, from which Soule added the fourth.

The slide from Rome to Sassuolo

Roma could have leveled the points with second-placed Inter Milan, who lost to struggling Spezia on Friday but were stunned 4-3 by Sassuolo thanks to a brace from Armand Lauriente, a penalty from Domenico Berardi and the nice finish from Andrea Pinamonti 15 minutes from the end.

Roma were without suspended coach Jose Mourinho and had to play a man the entire second half after Marash Kumbulla was sent off for kicking Berardi and conceding the kick from which the Italian international gave Sassuolo a 3-1 half-time lead.

Mourinho’s side, who scored through Nicola Zalewski, substitute Paulo Dybala and Georginio Wijnaldum, are now fifth, level on 47 points with fourth-placed AC Milan, but below the champions as they played one game moreover.

Roma are unlikely to return to the top four as Milan host Salernitana on Monday night.

Mourinho was out after his two-match ban was confirmed for being sent off in Roma’s defeat at Cremonese earlier this month.

Roma are furious at the decision as Mourinho’s red card came after a heated argument with fourth official Marco Serra, who the capital club say insulted their Portuguese coach.

Home fans waved handkerchiefs in a Spanish-style protest before kick-off as the club decided on a media blackout for Sunday’s game and the Rome derby next weekend , which now takes on added importance with Lazio two points ahead of their local rivals in third. .

Earlier, Verona’s survival bid stalled after a 1-1 draw with Monza left them with five points from 17th-placed Spezia and safety.

Fiorentina beat bottom side Cremonese 2-0 to win their fifth successive game in all competitions, while Torino are one point behind Juve after a 2-0 win at Lecce.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)