TURIN, Italy (AP) – Juventus beat Cremonese 5-0 on Monday, registering their highest points of the season and moving into third place in Serie A.
Juventus claimed their fifth win in six league games, with the Turin giants tied with Napoli and Roma on points but ahead of them on goal difference.
Inter Milan led AC Milan by three points. Top two and defending champions Napoli have a game in hand.
Juventus took the lead in the 12th minute with a lucky strike. Grayson Bremer’s long-range shot was deflected and goalkeeper Emil Audero was pinned to the spot.
Two minutes later, Jonathan David scored the second goal, stopping a sharp counterattack from Kefren Thuram.
His night took a turn for the worse shortly after Cremona coach Davide Nicola was sent off for protesting a VAR decision that denied his team a penalty.
Juventus were awarded a penalty at the other end, with Audero hitting the post from Kenan Yildiz’s spot-kick, but the Turkish international followed up and converted the rebound to make it 3-0 before half-time.
Weston McKennie put the fourth goal into the net two minutes into the second half, but Filippo Terracciano unfortunately had his shot close to the goal line ruled out as an own goal.
McKennie secured his place on the scoresheet with a header from close range.
Cremonese, without a win in six games, remained in 13th place.
Genoa beat Cagliari
Earlier, Genoa beat Cagliari 3-0 with a double from the Scandinavian pair, their first win in more than a month.
Lorenzo Colombo opened the scoring with seven minutes remaining, receiving a great through ball from Ruslan Malinovsky and slipping in a low shot.
After 75 minutes, Dane Morten Frendrup extended the lead to two points, and Norwegian centre-half Leo Schiri added another. Ostigard Just seconds later, he made it 3-0 with a stunning header.
After a difficult period of three losses and two draws, Genoa achieved their first win and moved up to 15th place, ahead of Cagliari on goal difference.
Both teams are five points apart from the relegation zone.
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