The Japan Times - Milan squeeze past Empoli to move five points clear

Pierre Kalulu struck the classy winner 18 minutes in at the San Siro when a free-kick fell to him just outside the area, the French defender's first goal of the season keeping Milan's local rivals Inter at bay.

Inter, who have a game in hand, are at Torino on Sunday while Napoli are a further point back in third ahead of a tricky trip to Verona.

Milan have had trouble with Serie A's lesser lights in recent weeks and Saturday's win was far from straightforward, with promoted Empoli causing problems for the hosts in the second half.

Aurelio Andreazzoli's team are without a win since mid-December but went close twice in a matter of seconds shortly after the break.

First Sebastiano Luperto forced a superb save from Mike Maignan when he got a head to Filippo Bandinelli's inswinging cross five minutes after the restart.

Then France international goalkeeper Maignan had to be at his best to keep Nedim Bajrami's subsequent corner from going straight in before pouncing on the ball on the rebound.

However Milan held on for a precious win to make sure that they will hold top spot, at least for another week.

- Morata keeps Juve rolling -

Alvaro Morata ensured Juventus extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches with a brace in a 3-1 win at Sampdoria to further strengthen their position in the top four as they moved just one point behind Napoli.

Morata put Juve two goals ahead from the penalty spot before rounding off the scoring two minutes from the end to send Juve into their Champions League decider with Villarreal in confident mood.

Massimiliano Allegri's side host La Liga outfit Villarreal in Turin on Wednesday in the second leg of a last 16 tie level at 1-1.

The visitors could thank Samp's Japanese international Maya Yoshida for their first goal after the defender inadvertently bundled in a Juan Cuadrado cross in the 23rd minute, before Morata converted his spot-kick 11 minutes later.

Abdelhamid Sabiri pulled one back for Samp with six minutes to go with a deflected free-kick but shortly afterwards Morata headed in his fifth league goal of the season from a Manuel Locatelli cross.

Morata's second sealed a win which showed Juve are not out of the title race yet, pulling to within four points of Milan before they beat Empoli.

The Spaniard is on loan from Atletico Madrid and his future in Turin after this campaign is unsure.

"The future is not up to me. I'll still be the biggest Juve fan even if I'm not here next season," he said to DAZN.

"We will try everything we can to win the league title."

Earlier bottom side Salernitana held Sassuolo to a 2-2 draw while Spezia struck a big blow in the race for survival by beating Cagliari 2-0.

Thiago Motta's side are seven points above Venezia, who sit 18th but can now move level on 25 points with Cagliari if they shock Lazio in Rome on Sunday.

T.Maeda--JT