Pavel Nedved struck five minutes from time to give Juventus a 1-0 win at his former club Lazio on Sunday and keep the Turin side in step with AC Milan at the top of Serie A.

Milan's 3-0 win over Parma on Saturday had moved them three points clear of Juventus but Nedved's precious late goal leaves both sides on 73 points with five games to go.

One of those five games is the clash between the two title contenders at Milan's San Siro on May 8.

In the battle for the other two Champions League slots, third placed Inter Milan suffered a 2-1 defeat at Messina, ending their unbeaten away record this season.

Sampdoria take over from Udinese in fourth place after they defeated AS Roma 2-1 in Genoa.

The defeat leaves Roma, with just a single point from their last eight games, drifting dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Palermo's bid for Champions League football looks over after their 1-0 defeat by bottom club Atalanta.

HARD WORK

Juve, without the suspended Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and injured French forward David Trezeguet, suffered an early setback one of their two remaining attackers Alessandro Del Piero was replaced due to an injury.

With just Uruguayan striker Marcelo Zalayeta in attack, Juve created little but then Nedved fired in a potentially vital goal in the 85th minute.

Juve had keeper Gianluigi Buffon to thank for keeping them in front though -- the world's most expensive goalkeeper producing a top draw save to keep out a Massimo Oddo free-kick.

"We were missing some key players but our character and desire to win came through for us. That is what Juve are all about," said Nedved.

UNTHINKABLE STRUGGLE

With the teams at the bottom of the table battling for every point, Roma risk getting drawn in to a once unthinkable struggle against the drop.

Although they are 12th in the 20-team league Roma, who have spent just one season in Serie B in 1951-52, have by far the worst form in the league and face the next four games without suspended captain and key striker Francesco Totti.

At the Luigi Ferraris stadium, Max Tonetto put Samp in front in the 33rd minute with a cool finish after some excellent work from the lively Francesco Flachi.

Flachi then made it 2-0 from the spot in the 79th minute after Roma's Argentine defender Leandro Cufre brought down Cristiano Doni inside the area.

Roma could certainly count themselves unlucky having twice hit the woodwork with a Mancini shot against the post and a Daniele De Rossi header against the bar.

Montella's injury time penalty was too late for any revival but a revival is exactly what Roma need to produce in the final weeks of the season.

Inter had led at Messina through a close-range effort from Argentine Julio Ricardo Cruz but former Inter forward Arturo Di Napoli brought the Sicilians level before Rafael's goal on the break ended Inter's recent impressive run of form.


(Agencies)