Dramatic first defeat for Juve, Napoli draw

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China Daily, October 30, 2014
Adjust font size:

 Juventus' Carlos Tevez eyes the ball during their Italian Serie A soccer match against Genoa at Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa October 29, 2014.

Genoa handed Serie A leaders and titleholders Juventus a dramatic first league defeat of the season when Luca Antonini scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give them a 1-0 win on Wednesday.

Napoli continued on their erratic way as they threw away chances in a 1-1 draw at Atalanta where Jose Callejon fired over an open goal and Gonzalo Higuain scored a late equaliser, only to miss a stoppage time penalty.

Inter Milan, for the second successive match, won 1-0 with a controversial penalty, this time against previously unbeaten Sampdoria, as Mauro Icardi converted in the 89th minute amid angry protests from the visitors.

Mattia Destro and Daniele De Rossi gave AS Roma a 2-0 win over promoted Cesena as they pulled level with Juventus at the top. Both have 22 points from nine games, six ahead of AC Milan, Sampdoria and Udinese.

Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin kept Juventus at bay, his repertoire of saves including two brilliant stops from Alvaro Morata, and Angelo Ogbonna hit the crossbar for the visitors, before Antonini scored with almost the last kick of the game.

Napoli, who beat Verona 6-2 on Sunday with an Higuain hat-trick, found life much tougher at Atalanta and fell behind when German Denis scored with a diving header against his former club just before the hour, only Atalanta's fourth goal of the season.

Callejon should have levelled five minutes later but managed to fire his effort over from almost underneath the crossbar.

Atalanta had Luca Cigarini sent off for a second bookable offence before Higuain scored on the turn with four minutes to go.

But the Argentine turned villain when his penalty was saved by Marco Sportiello in the second minute of stoppage time, leaving his side joint sixth alongside Lazio, Inter and Genoa with 15 points.

Under-pressure Inter produced another scrappy performance and were preparing for a crescendo of jeers at the San Siro until Alessio Romagnoli was judged to have pushed over Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Icardi converted from the spot, as he did against Cesena on Sunday.

Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic pushed away his players as they remonstrated with match officials at the end.

Juan Cuadrado set up two goals, the first finished off with a brilliant touch by Khouma Babacar and the second by Borja Valero, in a 3-0 win for Fiorentina over Udinese. Senegal's Babacar also opened the scoring when he tapped in from a rebound just before halftime.

Cagliari and AC Milan drew 1-1, Victor Ibarbo opening the scoring before Milan's Giacomo Bonaventura replied with a superb curling effort, and Palermo beat Chievo 1-0.

Matteo Darmian's early goal gave Torino a 1-0 win over Roberto Donadoni's Parma, who are bottom after losing eight of their nine games.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter