Juventus 3 - 0 Livorno
Ibrahimovic 58 (J), Trezeguet 60 (J), Del Piero 92 (J)
Stadio Delle Alpi
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero were forced to work hard in order to beat Livorno and maintain their two-point lead at the top of the table, but Fabio Capello is taking a new hardline stance on lack of discipline among his players.
The Bianconeri may have beaten Bayern Munich midweek, but they needed a victory to get back on their Serie A track after the 3-1 defeat to Milan. They were taking on a Livorno side that was in fifth place going into this weekend and had a Cristiano Lucarelli on fine form.Gianluca Zambrotta again switched to right-back, leaving the left role for Giorgio Chiellini.
David Trezeguet bagged a brace midweek and nearly opened the scoring here after four minutes when Fabio Galante's dreadful header set up the Frenchman for a volley, but his finish was off target.
Moments later, Pavel Nedved drilled wide from the edge of the box, while at the other end Nikola Lazetic dribbled past a defender and fired over.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic left the entire Livorno defence for dead with a cheeky chip that allowed him to run past three players, but his shot was charged down by a desperate Marco Amelia.
The Amaranto went very close to a shock opener on 16 minutes, as Lucarelli's perfect cross reached Diego De Ascentis at the back post, but the former Torino man's header was charged down by Zambrotta's chest.
Lucarelli and Patrick Vieira had hopeful efforts off target, while another Nedved rocket shaved the woodwork. Francesco Coco's strike shook the side-netting after some good build-up play from Lucarelli.
Amelia tipped a tricky Nedved corner kick out of the top corner of the net, and in the second half Ibrahimovic ballooned Adrian Mutu's cross over the bar.
Juventus eventually broke through just before the hour mark. Jorge Vargas inexplicably stopped when Patrick Vieira's pass came over the defence and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was at full stretch to volley it past Amelia.
Moments later, Trezeguet made it 2-0 with his 107th goal in a Juventus jersey. The Livorno defence was again caught napping, as the Frenchman rose to nod in Zambrotta's sweeping cross from the right.
Livorno were furious and lost their heads, as De Ascentis saw red for a reaction foul on Mutu. However, replays suggest contact was minimal and Mutu was substituted soon after to avoid further problems.
The Bianconeri were very unlucky not to make it three, as Ibrahimovic's header was parried at point-blank range and Trezeguet somehow failed to push in the loose ball from a yard.
Lucarelli was the last to give in and his deflected effort looped up off Thuram's leg, Abbiati tipping it out of the top corner.
Mauro Camoranesi chested down the ball for Ibrahimovic and brought another tough save out of Amelia from six yards.
Fabio Capello is taking a new hard stance on lack of discipline and substituted Camoranesi straight after a dreadful challenge on Lucarelli. Camoranesi suffered a similar fate midweek against Munich, as the substitute was in turn replaced.
Alessandro Del Piero netted his fourth of the season in Serie A in stoppages, skipping round Passoni's challenge and the goalkeeper as he ran on to an Ibrahimovic through ball, slotting into an empty net.
Ibrahimovic nearly made it 4-0, bursting through the Livorno defence only for Amelia to block at the near post with one hand.
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Juventus: Abbiati; Chiellini, Cannavaro, Thuram, Zambrotta; Nedved, Emerson, Vieira, Mutu (Camoranesi 63) (Balzaretti 86); Trezeguet (Del Piero 72), Ibrahimovic
Livorno: Amelia; Melara, Vargas, Galante; Pfertzel (Cesar Prates 72), Morrone, Passoni, De Ascentis; Lazetic (Bakayoko 78), C Lucarelli (Paulinho 88)
Ref: Brighi