MILAN — Champion Juventus reinforced its lead at the top of Serie A Sunday with a controversial 1-0 win away to struggling Catania as a rampant Inter Milan moved into second place, four points behind. Former Arsenal man Nicklas Bendtner made his full Juventus debut for Antonio Conte's side, partnering Mirko Vucinic ahead of a five-man midfield which also featured French teenager Paul Pogba. It fell to Chilean international Arturo Vidal to give the Old Lady of Turin a 57th minute lead, which appeared to be safe when Catania defender Giovanni Marchese was sent off mid-way through the second half. However, well before then the Sicilians appeared to have suffered an injustice when Argentine striker Ruben Bergessio tapped the rebound from Nicolas Spolli's glancing header past Gianluigi Buffon in the Juve goal. Buffon, celebrating his 500th Serie A appearance, looked to have been fairly beaten, but Catania's celebrations were cut short when the referee disallowed it after consulting with his assistant. Catania reacted furiously and, after club president Antonino Pulvirenti was eventually sent from the bench for dissent, five of the club's players picked up yellow cards as their frustration came to the fore. In comments to Sky Italia, Pulvirenti complained: “Bergessio's goal was canceled by the Juve bench. There were seven officials out there, and none of them saw a thing.” It was not clear whether it was ruled out for offside or for a handling offense, however replays showed it had come off the Catania player's knee. Juventus is now unbeaten in 48 matches. Inter confirmed it is still on the ascendancy with a 3-1 win away to Bologna which, thanks to Lazio's 2-0 reverse at Fiorentina, moved it up to second. Lazio began the day in third place, four points behind Juve but dropped to fourth as La Viola grabbed a precious 2-0 win. Elsewhere Cagliari stunned Sampdoria 1-0 in Genoa, while Parma gave its ailing campaign a boost with a shock 3-1 win away to Torino. On Saturday, AC Milan recorded a much-needed win in beating Genoa 1-0 to move into the top half of the Serie A. Stephan El Shaarawy's sixth goal of the season on his 20th birthday handed Milan only its third win in nine matches. Milan also had two decent penalty claims turned down in an otherwise dull match at San Siro. Earlier, strugglers Siena and Palermo played out a dull goalless draw. — Agencies
