Serbia striker Vlahovic lashed in what turned out to the winning goal five minutes before half-time at a sparsely-populated Allianz Stadium in Turin.
His ninth league goal of the season, and his first since early February, came after Assan Ceesay’s 37th-minute penalty for the away side had levelled Leandro Paredes’s early free-kick.
Juve are two points ahead of Lazio, who host Sassuolo later on Wednesday knowing anything but a win will hand Napoli their first league title since 1990 before the runaway leaders head to Udinese on Thursday.
Massimiliano’s side broke a four-match winless run but their chances of making the Champions League hinge on a new ruling over their 15-point deduction which was revoked on appeal last month.
Defeat leaves Lecce four points above the relegation zone, although their fight for survival was helped by 18th-paced Spezia falling 3-2 at Atalanta, who move into the Champions League places.
Atalanta are one of six teams battling for the three remaining places in the top four, with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma in action later on Wednesday.
Boulaye Dia’s hat-trick was not enough for Salernitana as Fiorentina levelled each one of the Senegal forward’s strikes to claim an exciting 3-3 draw.
Dia, who delayed Napoli’s title party on Sunday, took his league tally for the season to 16 with his treble at the Stadio Arechi.
That’s three more than any Salernitana player has ever scored in Italy’s top-flight, with Marco Di Vaio netting 13 in 1998-99, and it helped Paulo Sousa’s side to both extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches and move eight clear of the drop zone.
Meanwhile, Sampdoria slipped closer to Serie B after a 2-0 home defeat to Torino which ended with on-pitch chaos after former Pietro Pellegri netted the away side’s second in stoppage time.
Pellegri comes through the youth system at Samp’s local rivals Genoa and he put his fingers to his lips after scoring, sparking a livid reaction from home fans and players.
Samp are 11 points from safety with five games to play and have serious financial problems which leave the 1991 Italian champions at risk of bankruptcy.
AFP
