Buffon hails ´champion´ Tevez

Gianluigi Buffon hailed Carlos Tevez a “champion” after his match-winning goal in Juventus’ 1-0 Derby della Mole victory over Torino.

Tevez decided Sunday’s game in the 30th minute, collecting a pass from Kwadwo Asamoah before spinning and firing a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner from 20 yards to extend Juve’s unbeaten run against their city rivals to 16 matches.

Goalkeeper Buffon barely had a save to make throughout the entire game, the only moment of concern for Juve coming with 10 minutes remaining when Omar El Kaddouri claimed he had been felled by Andrea Pirlo in the penalty area.

The Italy stalwart was fulsome in his praise of striker Tevez, whose 14th league goal put Juve nine points clear of Roma at the top of the Serie A table.

“In a complicated and balanced encounter like this, the difference is made by those moments of magic from a champion,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“We’ve got several and Carlos was decisive.

“It was a real derby, quite an English-style one with the referee letting the action run.

“Compliments to Torino, as their performance made it really difficult for us.

“It’s one of the few times Torino were able to play against us with no pressure, thanks to the great campaign they are having.”

Regarding the penalty incident, Buffon suggested that he felt the referee had made the right decision.

“From my position I didn’t see any actual contact, but even then not every contact has to be a penalty,” he said.