Camoranesi strikes a brace as Juventus hammer Atalanta

Roma, Nov 8 : Mauro Camoranesi's brace solved the problems of Juventus as the Turin side beat Atalanta 5-2 to move to within four points of Serie A leader Inter Milan.

Juve fans still reeling after a 2-3 home defeat to Napoli last weekend felt they had to undergo another excruciating display of sterility upfront, added to a lack of ideas in mid-field Saturday that fully explain their side's deficit from Inter Milan.

The front-runners have 28 points, when third-place Sampdoria visit Cagliari and fourth-place AC Milan play at Lazio.

There were minor worries for Ciro Ferrara's side in 15 minutes when home striker Simone Tiribocchi deflected wide as Gianluigi Buffon protected his goal, but the Juve goalkeeper remained still on 33 as Cristiano Doni volleyed wide.

Camoranesi, who was on target in mid-week against Maccabi Haifa, put Juve two up in two minutes as he nodded home a Fabio Grosso cross between two static defenders and one minute later found the goal's right corner after clinching a loose ball.

Atalanta coach Antonio Conte, a former teammate of Ferrara at Juve, saw his midfielder Tiberio Guarente threaten with a volley in the 45th minutes to trigger Atalanta's comeback efforts.

Guarente was crucial in the 51st minute as he sent away the fast Chilean Jaime Valdez for a low drive past Buffon. In the 55th minute, Brazilian Felipe Melo drilled a long-range shot at the junction of bar and post to set a two-goal buffer for Juve.

There was no relenting from Atalanta, and Valdez threatened shortly before Fabio Ceravolo made the score 3-2, topping a counter attack with an angled drive past Buffon.

Brazil playmaker Diego added a fourth goal with five minutes left after connecting with a cross from Camoranesi.

Frenchman David Trezeguet added a fifth goal pouncing on a drifting ball in the final minutes of a game he played as Juve's single striker due to the suspension of Brazilian Amauri.

Earlier Saturday, Napoli only took home a scoreless draw from a game at struggling Catania in the opening game of the Serie A weekend.

The side from Naples moved onto 18 points from 12 games and lie now tied for fifth with Fiorentina. Meanwhile, Catania remained in the drop zone on eight points, while Atalanta have one more point.

Napoli last weekend shone, rallying from two down at Juventus, but seemed to have lost their impressive grit as they tackled the Sicilian side. Their showing disappointed the fans after the three wins and one draw clinched since Walter Mazzarri took over as coach from Roberto Donadoni.

--IANS