Juventus close in on Serie A title with victory over Novara

(CNN) -- Juventus maintained a three-point lead at the top of Serie A with a convincing 4-0 win at Novara on Sunday to stay on course for a first league title in nine years.

Two goals from Mirko Vucinic and one a piece for Marco Borriello and Arturo Vidal earned Juventus their eighth straight win and takes their league tally to 77 points with three matches remaining.

"Three days ago Novara beat Lazio so we knew it wouldn't be easy but we got the early goal and we kept our concentration right until the end," Juventus coach, Antonio Conte said.

"We are getting closer and we are the masters of our own destiny. The squad has gone from strength to strength, driven by a great desire for success," Conte added.

Novara, meanwhile, remain mired in relegation troubles -- second-from bottom and still eight points adrift of safety.

Juventus' nearest rivals AC Milan kept up the pressure with a 4-1 at Siena.

Antonio Cassano opened the scoring in the 26th minute -- his first goal since returning from heart surgery in November -- with Zlatan Ibrahimovic netting three minutes later.

Albanian striker Erjon Bogdani halved the deficit for Siena in the 83rd minute but Milan made sure of three points with two late goals.

The first came from Antonio Nocerino in the 89th minute before Ibrahimovic bagged his second of the game and his 26th league goal of the season.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has not yet given up hope of the Rossoneri regaining the title they won 12 months ago.

"We will try to push until the end but if they finish ahead of us then they deserve to win. We don't want to be finish many points behind Juventus. In two years we've won a league and a Super Cup and been competitive in the Champions League," Allegri said.

Fifth-placed Inter Milan beat already relegated Cesena 2-1 in the San Siro to draw level on 55 points with Napoli and Lazio as the three teams battle for the third Champions League place.

Luca Ceccarelli put Cesena ahead in the 57th minute but Nigerian midfielder Joel Obi equalized two minutes later before substitute Mauro Zarate scored the Nerazzurri's winner in the 72nd minute.

In other matches, mid-table Atalanta climbed to ninth with a 2-0 win over 16th-placed Fiorentina.

Genoa remain one place and one point above the relegation zone after a 3-2 defeat at Bologna.

Third-from-bottom Lecce also lost going down 2-1 at home to Parma.