Quickfire Juve back on track

Juventus' Adrian Mutu runs in celebrations after scoring against Siena during their Italian Serie A match. Serie A leaders Juventus put their faltering title quest back on track with a resounding 3-0 win at Siena.

Serie A leaders Juventus put their faltering title quest back on track with a resounding 3-0 win at Siena.

Three goals in the first eight minutes sealed victory for the reigning champions to end a run of five consecutive draws and maintain their three-point lead over second-placed AC Milan, with just two games to go.

French midfielder Patrick Vieira's towering header opened the scoring, before David Trezeguet and Adrian Mutu struck for the visitors Sunday.

Penalty-box predator Filippo Inzaghi netted twice for AC Milan in their 2-0 home win against Livorno to keep them in the hunt, but with just six points up for grabs, title-holders Juve remain in the driving seat.

AC Milan's last two matches look tougher on paper as they travel to Parma and host Roma, while Juve take on Palermo at home and Reggina away.

If the pair finish level on points at the end of the season, though, Milan will be crowned champions courtesy of their better head-to-head record - they won at the San Siro and drew at the Stadio Delle Alpi.

A bizarre last minute own goal by Marco Materazzi - an attempted back-pass from 40 yards which sailed over his keeper - gave struggling Empoli a 1-0 home win against Inter Milan, while the race for the fourth and final Champions League place between Fiorentina and Roma remains tight.

Fiorentina were beaten 1-0 at Palermo, while Roma threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 4-4 at Chievo. Fifth-placed Roma are on 66 points, two behind Fiorentina.

Tommaso Rocchi scored the only goal as Lazio defeated already-relegated Lecce 1-0 to clinch a UEFA Cup place.

Down at the bottom, Messina joined Treviso and Lecce in Serie B after they lost 3-0 at Reggina.

In other matches, Cagliari beat Parma 3-1, Sampdoria drew 1-1 with Udinese and Treviso drew 2-2 with Ascoli.

The gradual disappearance of a 14-point lead over Milan together with their exit from the Champions League had raised Juve's stress levels.

The club are refusing to talk to the media following heavy criticism from the Italian press, while coach Fabio Capello had to dive between Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Vieira to stop the pair coming to blows during a training session on Thursday.

But Juve came out fighting for each other from the first whistle in Siena and Vieira gave them the lead in the third minute, escaping the attention of Francesco Colonnese to head home Pavel Nedved's corner.

Trezeguet made it 2-0 three minutes later, driving a low, right-footed shot past Marco Fortin after a robust run by Nedved had carved open the home defence.

Mutu left Siena reeling in the eighth minute, squeezing an angled drive past Fortin after a flowing move involving Alessandro Del Piero and Vieira.

Inzaghi broke the deadlock for AC Milan at the San Siro, converting Marek

Jankulovski's left-wing cross with a typical predatory finish from eight yards.

And he doubled his tally with a hooked volley from Andriy Shevchenko's cross for his 12th goal of the campaign.

Knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals by Barcelona on Wednesday, AC Milan are in danger of finishing a second successive season without a trophy unless they can overhaul Juve.