Juve, Milan win to keep title race open

Rome, April 26 (IANS) Marco Borriello came off the bench to strike nine minutes from time and handed Italian Serie A leaders Juventus a 1-0 victory at Cesena. AC Milan kept their title hopes alive with a 1-0 win over Genoa.

The win at the Dino Manuzzi stadium Wednesday sees Juve remain three points clear of AC Milan at the top of the standings with four games remaining.

Juventus looked to be heading for a frustrating afternoon after Andrea Pirlo had struck the post from the penalty spot early on and teammate Paolo De Ceglie had also been denied by the woodwork in the opening half.

However, Borriello came to the rescue just six minutes after replacing Alessandro Matri.

Cesena, who failed to test Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon throughout the game, lie bottom of the standings. They are 14 points behind Genoa with 12 points still up for grabs and return to the second division after two campaigns in Italy's top flight, Xinhua reported.

Kevin-Prince Boateng kept AC Milan title hunt and sent the club who brought him to Italy closer to relegation with a 1-0 win against Genoa.

Genoa, who remain just one point above the relegation zone, lost Bosko Jankovic to a red card midway through the second half.

Novara maintained hope of staying in the top division with a narrow 2-1 win over Lazio - and complicated the Biancoceleste's push for a Champions League spot in the process.

Inter Milan drew level on points with Udinese following a 3-1 victory at the Stadio Friuli Wednesday as the battle for places in Europe intensifies.

Danilo gave Udinese the lead in the sixth minute, but two goals from Wesley Sneijder turned the game in Inter's favour before Ricardo Alvarez added another before the break.

The result was harsh on the home side, who did all of the attacking, but just failed to turn their dominance into goals as Inter drew level in the table with five clubs now vying for third place.