Few would have thought it but with ten games to go until the end of the season this is a battle between third and fourth placed teams. It took an own goal to eventually seal this hard-fought victory for the Bianconeri.
In fact, it was Bologna who had the brightest start and pinned the Bianconeri back into their own half in the first minutes of play. It did not last long as Juventus grew in confidence and put the ball into the back of the net on 15 minutes, but David Trezeguet was clearly offside.
After 20 minutes of constant pressure on Gianluca Pagliuca, it was Bologna who took the lead against the run of play. Lamberto Zauli took advantage of Ciro Ferrara's error to beat Gianluigi Buffon one-on-one.
The lead lasted no more than 60 seconds as Pavel Nedved provided a perfect assist for the unmarked Trezeguet position in the six-yard box.
At the dawn of the second period Juventus had another goal ruled out, this time for Trezeguet's foul on his marker. It became a siege on Pagliuca's net but Alessandro Del Piero twice hesitated at the crucial moment.
There were also protests for Zaccardo's alleged foul on Mark Iuliano. In a surprising move, Del Piero was substituted for Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta. The youngster had perhaps their best opportunity to take the lead but Pagliuca was up to the task.
It took an own goal for Juventus to finally seal the victory as Massimo Tarantino literally nodded the ball into his own net in an extremely misplaced clearance.
The tension got to Zauli and Cristiano Zenoni late on, but this was a tough result for Marcello Lippi's men.
