Rabiot goal enough for Juventus to beat Roma and close the gap at the top
Second-placed Juventus came into the contest with a chance to close the gap to Inter Milan after the league leaders were held to a draw in Friday's clash with Genoa.
However, the Old Lady’s title aspirations were of no concern to Roma, who threatened to break the deadlock when Bryan Cristante struck the woodwork in the opening five minutes.
Following the lively start, the contest quickly descended into the sort of a cagey affair that reflected the pragmatism of the two coaches, Massimiliano Allegri and Jose Mourinho.
The latter would have been relieved to see Evan Ndicka head Filip Kostic’s fierce strike off the line in the closing stages of the first period.
After playing a drawn first half for the seventh time in their nine home league games, Juventus continued another trend after the interval, as they opened the scoring for the 15th time in the league this season.
Dusan Vlahovic showed great centre-forward play to neatly flick the ball into the path of Adrien Rabiot, who stroked a near-post effort past Rui Patrício.
Having failed to win just two of the previous 14 league matches where they scored first, Juventus have developed a habit of protecting their leads.
Their resolute backline forced Roma to try the odd speculative effort, with former Juventus star Paulo Dybala drawing a routine save from Wojciech Szczesny.
As the Giallorossi pressed forward in search of an equaliser, the hosts attempted to exploit the space behind, with Weston McKennie spurning a golden opportunity to double his team’s advantage.
Federico Chiesa thought he had then grabbed Juventus’ second of the evening when he slotted home from close range, only for his late effort to be chalked off for an offside infringement.
Ultimately, the hosts did not require the insurance of a second goal, as they saw out the remainder of the contest to condemn seventh-placed Roma to consecutive away defeats.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Adrien Rabiot (Juventus)
