Serie A, Round 23: Juventus, Roma both drop points on Sunday

A minute later and Jonathan made it to the bye-line on the right hand side, his cross found Hernanes on the 18-yard line and his header from this distance had remarkable power, forcing Pegolo to save.

Pegolo was certainly earning his money, as a minute after Hernanes tested him, he was forced to make another save, this time scrambling out to deny Diego Milito after he was found in acres of space by a Palacio cross from the right hand side.

Inter injuries and suspensions

Out: Ricky Álvarez, Esteban Cambiasso, Cristian Chivu, McDonald Mariga (injured).

With a 2-0 lead early in the second half, it looked like the match in Verona would be all too easy for Juventus. But the Old Lady let down their guard in the second half, and Hellas Verona were all too happy to take advantage.

Perhaps they should’ve been.

Captain Stefano Mauri was back on the Lazio bench for the first time since May’s Coppa Italia triumph, following a successful appeal to reduce a ban for failing to report alleged match fixing from 2011.

Konko intercepted Pjanic’s attempt to cut back for Gervinho inside the opening minutes. With 16 dismissals in the last 11 derbies, unsurprisingly, the tackles were flying in from the first whistle. De Rossi was lucky not to be carded for a scissors challenge on Senad Lulic. There wasn’t much force in the challenge, which is why the Roma player got off with a stern warning.

Torino: Padelli; Moretti, Glik, Maksimović; Masiello, Farnerud (Larrondo 63’), Vives, El Kaddouri (Kurtić 46’), Darmian (Basha 46’); Immobile, Cerci.

Goals: Immobile (5’).

Torino injuries and suspensions

Bologna injuries and suspensions

Unfortunately for the visitors, their bright start proved to be nothing more than a flicker. Gökhan Inler netted an equaliser just a couple of minutes later, with a long-range effort which nicked off Nigel De Jong’s shin and looped into Christian Abbiati’s top corner. It could’ve been the first of many, but somehow Milan withstood the ever-increasing first half pressure.

Napoli: Reina; Ghoulam, Albiol, Fernández, Maggio; Inler (Džemaili 89’), Jorginho; Insigne (Callejón 78’), Hamšík (Behrami 83’), Mertens; Higuaín.

Back in September, Roma eased to a 2-0 victory to avenge last May’s slender Coppa Italia defeat against their neighbours. To rub salt in the wounds, Lazio failed to register a single shot on target and had defender Andre Dias dismissed. Reja lost his first four Rome derbies as Lazio coach, but did win his final two before walking away from the job in 2012.

In Gervinho, the Giallorossi have one of Serie A’s current in-form players. Many sides have struggled to cope with the electric pace possessed by the revitalised Ivorian, who bagged a brace against Napoli and currently has five Serie A strikes to his name. The ex-Arsenal man has enjoyed being reunited with Garcia and has put a forgettable stint in England firmly behind him.

Inler attempts that shot roughly 100 times a season and it works twice. That is one of his two.

You would think that a player would lose their mind after scoring a goal like this, but Inler reacts as if he does it all the time, which explains why he tries it so often. Nobody tell him his actual conversation rate -- we may be robbed of this.

Goals: Iličić 16’, Wolski 86’

Atalanta (4-4-1-1): Consigli, Benalouane, Stendardo, Yepes, Del Grosso, Raimondi (Estogarrobia 58’), Cigarini, Migliaccio (Carmona 73’), Bonaventura, Moralez (Cazzola 83’), Denis

Napoli injuries and suspensions

Out: Juan Zuñiga, Giandomenico Mesto, Anthony Réveillère (injured). In doubt: None.

Saturday sees three of the four teams still involved in the Coppa Italia play out their league matches, with only Roma waiting until Sunday. The giallorossi get an extra few hours rest so that they’ll be all set for the season’s second Derby della Capitale - which, we all hope, will be much more exciting than the first edition, in which Roma easily beat Lazio 2-0.

There’s little else on Sunday that can compete with the Derby, particularly since no one really expects Verona to take points off Juventus, not even at home. Even the “highlighted” final match doesn’t hold much promise, what with Inter’s recent performances and Sassuolo’s ineptitude.