Juve win title, Klose scores five for Lazio

Juventus clinched their second successive Serie A title with three games to spare by beating Palermo 1-0 on Sunday while Miroslav Klose hit five goals in Lazio's 6-0 demolition of hapless Bologna.

Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, Juve's leading scorer with 10 goals, wrapped up the title by converting a 59th-minute penalty amid Palermo protests after Mirko Vucinic was pushed by Massimo Donati.

Juve's afternoon was dampened when midfielder Paul Pogba was sent off for spitting at Salvatore Aronica in the 84th following a clash between the pair. A pitch invasion at the end also poured more cold water on the celebrations.

Klose's extraordinary performance began when the 34-year-old Germany international opened the scoring in the 22nd minute although there were suspicions of offside.

Hernanes scored a brilliant second with a dipping 30-metre shot, then Klose grabbed two in three minutes to complete a first-half hat-trick, finishing off a counter-attack and then tapping in Abdoullay Konko's pass at the far post.

Klose was allowed a free header from Antonio Candreva's cross as he added a fourth goal early in the second half and he was again unmarked as he turned in a Sergio Floccari pass just after the hour.

Bottom club Pescara were relegated after one season in the top flight when they lost 4-1 at fellow strugglers Genoa with Marco Boriello scoring twice.

Antonio Di Natale scored a brilliant brace for Udinese, who beat Sampdoria 3-1, and Argentine forward Gonzalo Bergessio got a hat-trick to give Catania a 3-0 win over Siena, pushing their opponents closer to Serie B.

Di Natale's second was a stunning effort as he ran on to a long ball and volleyed his shot over the oncoming Sergio Romero, his 20th goal of the season.

Third-placed AC Milan edged closer to the Champions League playoff spot when a late Mario Balotelli goal, his ninth since he joined from Manchester City at the end of January, gave them a 1-0 win over Torino.

They moved four points clear of Fiorentina who lost 1-0 at home to AS Roma on Saturday.

Juventus, needing only a point to clinch a record 29th title and their second in coach Antonio Conte's two seasons at the club, had a lucky escape when Fabrizzio Miccoli hit the post for Palermo early in the second half.

Juventus, who won their eighth successive league game, have 83 points from 35 games, 14 clear of Napoli who were hosting Inter Milan in the evening game (1845 GMT). Milan have 65 and Fiorentina 61.

"The difference from last year is that we had nothing to lose, whereas this time we were under an obligation to win because otherwise it would have been treated as a failure," goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon told the Mediaset Premium channel.

"There was a lot of responsibility on our shoulders as it isn't easy to win in that situation."

At the bottom, Palermo dropped back into the relegation zone with 32 points, swapping places with Genoa who have 35 while Torino are not out of the woods on 36.

Siena, 19th in the 20-team table, have 30 and Pescara 22.

Photograph: Claudio Villa/Getty Images