Juventus move to brink of fifth straight title

Juventus could be crowned Serie A champions for the fifth year in a row on Monday after emerging victorious from a gritty encounter with Fiorentina.

A 2-1 victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi pushed Juve 12 points clear ahead of second-placed Napoli, who must triumph at Roma to retain any mathematical chance of catching the leaders, although this Scudetto is realistically beyond their grasp.

Gianluigi Buffon once again played the role of saviour for the Bianconeri with a double save from Nikola Kalinic's last-gasp penalty to secure all three points.

Juve were certainly made to battle hard for the vital win - Kalinic had responded to Mario Mandzukic's opening rocket before substitute Alvaro Morata managed to stab home the winner.

Professionalism will forbid Juve from celebrating yet another title win on Sunday evening, but come mid-afternoon on Liberation Day there will almost certainly be exuberant festivities on the streets of Turin.

Determined to avoid suffering the ignominy of allowing Juve to celebrate a title party at their base, Fiorentina took their bitter rivals to task from the start.