Cristian Ledesma

Lazio beat Juventus 2-1 after a dramatic finish to a pulsating Italian Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday to seal their place in the final against either Inter Milan or city rivals AS Roma.

French teenager Paul Pogba scored a sensational brace to inspire depleted Juventus to a 4-0 rout of Udinese which helped the Serie A champions extend their lead over Lazio on Saturday.

Miroslav Klose struck a superb late winner as Lazio beat Inter Milan 1-0 at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday to indirectly boost Juventus's hopes of extending their lead before Christmas.

Controversy with more betting implications returned to Italy's top flight Sunday as Juventus extended their lead and nine-man Lazio dropped to fourth after a bad-tempered away defeat to Fiorentina.

Champions Juventus reinforced their lead at the top of Serie A Sunday with a controversial 1-0 win away to struggling Catania as a rampant Inter Milan moved into second place, four points behind.

Lazio on Sunday put daylight between themselves and their Champions League rivals as a Mobido Diakite goal two minutes from time gave them a 1-0 win over Cagliari.

Claudio Ranieri's grip on his Inter Milan job appeared even more precarious on Sunday after his side had to fight back from two goals down to squeeze out a 2-2 draw against Catania.

Lazio defeated city rivals Roma 2-1 on Sunday to move into third place in Serie A in a stormy derby which saw Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg red-carded inside the first 10 minutes.

Ten-man Lazio thrust themselves back into title contention with a stunning come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Cesena at the Stadio Olimpico here on Thursday.

Strike pair Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho scored the goals as AC Milan emerged with a 3-0 victory from their trip to Novara on Sunday and remain hot on the heels of league leaders Juventus.

A double from captain Tommaso Rocchi inspired Lazio to a 3-0 win over Serie A strugglers Novara on Monday and kept them in touch with leaders Juventus.

Lazio face a stern test at home to league leaders Juventus at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, as they bid to prove they are capable of pushing Serie A's heavyweights all the way in the race for the Scudetto.

Lazio's hopes of gaining some breathing space in the race for a Champions League place were dashed here on Monday as they lost 1-0 at home to Juventus.

A blazing second-half performance saw Inter Milan come back from a goal down to crush Genoa 5-2 at the San Siro and stay five points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan on a Sunday when Lazio beat Palermo to move within two points of goalless Napoli.

Inter Milan's Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta said on Tuesday that his heart would be bursting with pride when he makes his debut for his adopted country Italy in Wednesday's friendly with Germany.

Inter Milan's Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta was on Monday given permission by FIFA to play for Italy allowing him to make his debut for them against Germany in Wednesday's friendly.

AC Milan were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Lecce as three of their title rivals bagged late winners to close in on the Serie A leaders on Sunday.

Italy grabbed a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw with Romania in an international friendly here on Wednesday in which Manchester City's Mario Balotelli was subjected to racist abuse.

Marco Borriello and Mirko Vucinic both netted from the spot to give Claudio Ranieri's men the honours.

Filippo Inzaghi scored his 123rd AC Milan goal to rescue a point in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Catania at the San Siro on Saturday.