Serie A Review: Parma relegated, Juve title celebrations on hold

Beleaguered Parma have been relegated from Serie A after a 4-0 defeat at Lazio on Wednesday settled the troubled club’s fate and simultaneously delayed Juventus’ title celebrations.

Roberto Donadoni’s team have appeared doomed to the drop for much of the season and may have been relegated by default as a result of their financial tribulations, but Wednesday’s defeat – coupled with Atalanta’s 2-2 draw at Cesena – mathematically ended their hopes.

Atalanta managed to edge a point further clear of the bottom three thanks to their 2-2 draw at Cesena, with two-goal Mauricio Pinilla netting an incredible overhead kick eight minutes from time to level the score.

Parma looked as though they would be on the end of a crushing defeat from the early exchanges of their fixture, as goals from Marco Parolo, Miroslav Klose and Antonio Candreva opened a three-goal lead inside 16 minutes.

Balde Keita rounded things off nine minutes from time to consolidate Lazio’s position in the top three, while forcing Juve to put their title celebrations on hold once again.

The reigning champions claimed a Carlos Tevez-inspired 3-2 home victory over faltering Fiorentina and, while Juve were unable to wrap up the Scudetto on Wednesday, a solitary point from their final five games will be enough to secure a 31st league title.

Gonzalo Rodriguez’s 36th-minute penalty put Juve under pressure, but Fernando Llorente hit back almost immediately to restore parity.

Josip Ilicic netted late on for the visitors, but a Tevez brace had already done the damage, leaving Juve needing just a draw at Sampdoria on Saturday to confirm their fourth successive league crown.

Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi appears to be fighting to save his job after a 3-1 home defeat by Genoa cranked up the pressure on the Italian.

Genoa made the most of Jeremy Menez’s 72nd-minute red card to move up to sixth.

Roma stopped their season from unravelling further as Rudi Garcia’s side won 3-0 at Sassuolo, keeping themselves five points clear of Napoli.

A 1-0 loss at Chievo has left Cagliari – who had Nicola Murru and Andrea Cossu sent off in the final 10 minutes – eight points adrift of safety, while Torino and Palermo played out a 2-2 draw in their mid-table clash.

The day’s other match also finished all-square, as Verona drew 1-1 at Sampdoria, who had Afriyie Acquah sent off for two bookable offences.