Turin: Juventus moved closer to a third consecutive Serie A title when a long-range Paul Pogba goal beat a dogged Bologna side 1-0, while AS Roma secured second spot and a Champions League place by winning 1-0 at Fiorentina.
Antonio Conte's Juve are still eight points clear of Roma after Pogba's powerful low drive secured their 17th home win in a row this season 64 minutes into a nervy display against a well-organised Bologna team who hardly ever left their own half.
"Against Bologna the only thing that counted was winning," said Conte. "It wasn't an easy game because when teams are that low down in the league they come to the Juventus Stadium and don't play, they just look to defend."
Roma's eighth win in succession was secured with a neat goal from Radja Nainngolan, who slid in to poke home former Fiorentina forward Adem Ljajic's neat through ball in the 26th minute of a tight game in Florence.
"Before the match our objective was to qualify for the Champions League and we've done that," said Ljajic. "There isn't much of a chance for the title, but we won't give up. Juventus still have to play at the Olympic stadium after all."
Rudi Garcia's side now have 82 points with four games to play, 14 ahead of Napoli who drew 1-1 at Udinese earlier on Saturday and 24 in front of fourth-placed Fiorentina.
NOT FAZED
Roma's incredible recent form has not fazed Juve who will travel to play them in Rome on May 9 having retained their title if they win their next two games at relegation-threatened Sassuolo and at home to mid-table Atalanta.
Between those matches Juve face Benfica in the Europa League semi-finals, travelling to Lisbon for the first leg on Thursday (1905 GMT) as they bid for the European glory that has eluded them since they reclaimed their place as Italy's dominant club.
"I want to make history by winning the title and the Europa League. We know it will difficult but it's something that we all want," said 21-year-old Pogba.
There was little goalmouth action in Turin as Bologna tried to cling on for an unlikely point and they defended well against a Juventus side missing their top scorer Carlos Tevez.
Shorn of the Argentine striker's invention and drive the reigning champions lacked their usual cutting edge, with Sebastian Giovinco failing to impose himself like he did in a man-of-the-match display at Udinese last weekend.
It was left to Pogba to secure the win with a fine trademark shot from the edge of the area which fizzed below the hand of goalkeeper Gianluca Curci and brought a huge sigh of relief around a tense Juventus Stadium.
Defeat for Bologna means they have dropped into the relegation zone, with Sassuolo's 1-0 win at Chievo Verona earlier on Saturday moving them level with Davide Ballardini's side on 28 points but above them on head-to-head results.
ROMA UNTROUBLED
Roma's rock solid defence has only conceded 19 goals all season and they rarely looked troubled at Fiorentina despite missing the reliable Mehdi Benatia.
It would have been a more comfortable win for the away side had Gervinho not missed a great opportunity after eight minutes, shooting embarrassingly wide when presented with an open goal following incredible skill from Francesco.
However, the hosts were furious when a penalty was not awarded three minutes before the break after Francesco Totti appeared to handle a Josip Ilicic free kick.
Earlier, Inter Milan moved a step closer to qualifying for the Europa League with a 2-0 win at 10-man Parma while AC Milan boosted their chances of European football next season with a 3-0 success over lowly Livorno in a fifth straight victory that saw Mario Balotelli score his 14th league goal of the season.
Walter Mazzarri's Inter secured victory with second-half goals from Rolando and Fredy Guarin, after Gabriel Paletta was sent off for the hosts just after halftime, to stay fifth on 56 points, five ahead of Parma and Milan.
Torino, two points further back in eighth, drew 3-3 at Lazio in an amazing match in which Serie A top scorer Ciro Immobile got his 20th league goal this season to give the visitors a late lead before Antonio Candreva equalised deep into stoppage time.
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