Juventus defeat second-placed Lazio to move 15 points clear atop Serie A

AP Photo/ Massimo Pinca

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Juventus moved ever closer to clinching a fourth straight Serie A title by beating nearest challengers Lazio 2-0 in Turin.

First-half goals from Carlos Tevez -- his 26th of the season in all competitions -- and centre-back Leonardo Bonucci pushed Juve 15 points clear of second place with only seven games remaining.

Lazio did mount a late rally at the Juventus Stadium but the dismissal of midfielder Danilo Cataldi for a heavy tackle on Tevez ended their challenge.

The result brought Lazio's run of six consecutive victories to an end and the Biancocelesti could be dragged back into third place should their city rivals Roma beat Atalanta in the capital on Sunday.

After some mutual excursions into enemy territory, Juve began to get a grip on proceedings and went close with a Claudio Marchisio drive in the 13th minute.

Only four minutes later Tevez caught Lazio cold with a stunning opening goal.

Freed up in a dangerous area by Arturo Vidal, the Argentinian took one touch to break into the area before beating Federico Marchetti with a left-footed finish.

Gianluigi Buffon had to drop low to deny Felipe Anderson a quick equaliser, with Lazio taking heart from the missed opportunity and going even closer in the 25th minute.

Giorgio Chiellini did just enough to put Miroslav Klose off as the German looked to scoop the ball past Buffon from close range.

Juve would capitalise on the Romans' disappointment by doubling their lead before the half-hour mark.

Bonucci found himself on the end of a swift counter-attack and the centre-back smashed home his fourth goal of the season in the form of a daisy-cutter that Marchetti could do nothing about.

He was back in the heart of Juve's defence to close down Anderson before watching Lucas Biglia make a mess of an easy pass to Dusan Basta in a shooting position.

Then, two minutes into stoppage time, Patrice Evra rose to meet Vidal's cross into the Lazio box only to miss the target by a matter of inches.

Lazio looked lively when play resumed with Antonio Candreva winning a corner thanks to a heavy deflection off Chiellini.

The Juve defender soon gave a free-kick away in a dangerous area and Buffon had to fling his gloves up to push Candreva's attempt over the bar.

Lazio were buoyed by their near misses and Biglia troubled Buffon with a low attempt before Chiellini was forced to put Basta's strike out for a corner.

The jig was finally up for the southerners when, one minute from full-time, Cataldi launched himself into Tevez's legs from behind to earn a straight red card.