Juventus drew 1-1 with Catania on Sunday to reclaim the Serie A lead and remain unbeaten under new coach Antonio Conte.
Argentine forward Gonzalo Bergessio put Catania in front in the 21st minute of the rainy match in Sicily and Serbia winger Milos Krasic equalized in the 49th minute — with the help of an error from Catania goalkeeper Mariano Andujar.
Krasic also set up Alessandro Del Piero for a possible winner in the 81st minute, but the 36-year-old Juventus captain missed with a weak header.
Photo: EPA
Juventus and Udinese have eight points each, but Juventus top the table on goals scored.
Having signed a long list of new players — led by Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Mirko Vucinic — Juve’s seven goals so far have been scored by seven different players.
“We’ve put together a squad to be competitive again, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Conte, who was hired after Juventus finished seventh last season and failed to qualify for Europe.
Udinese drew 0-0 at Cagliari, while Atalanta BC extended its impressive start with a 2-1 win over fellow promoted club Novara Calcio.
Atalanta trail the leaders by four points, but the Bergamo squad would be two points clear if not for a six-point penalty from a match-fixing and betting scandal that also resulted in a three-and-a half-year ban for their captain Cristiano Doni.
Matias Schelotto scored with a close-range header for Atalanta in the 34th minute and Luca Cigarini doubled the lead with a shot from just beyond the area in the 59th minute. Filippo Porcari pulled one back for Novara in the 88th minute.
In the late match, AS Roma beat Parma 1-0 with a 50th-minute header from Pablo Osvaldo for their first win under new coach Luis Enrique.
Also in Serie A on Sunday, AC Siena beat 10-man Lecce 3-0 with two goals from Emanuele Calaio and another from Mattia Destro, while SS Lazio drew 0-0 with Palermo.
In the lunchtime fixture, Chievo Verona beat 10-man Genoa 2-1 with a stoppage-time winner from Davide Moscardelli.
In Verona, Moscardelli scored a headed goal in the third minute of stoppage-time to follow up his goal in a 1-0 victory over Napoli on Wednesday.
Rodrigo Palacio had put Genoa in front in the 48th minute with his league-leading fourth goal of the season and Sergio Pellissier equalized for Chievo in the 74th minute.
Pellissier failed to convert a penalty in the 60th minute after Genoa defender Dario Dainelli was sent off for a foul on the Chievo Verona striker.
For his goal, Palacio did well to hold off the Chievo defenders and beat goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino after taking a pass from Cristobal Jorquera.
Recently fired Inter coach — and former Genoa manager — Gian Piero Gasperini had wanted to acquire Palacio in the summer and the former Boca Juniors striker is showing what made him attractive to Gasperini.
Pellissier equalized with a header following a corner kick from recently acquired US midfielder Michael Bradley.
Bradley also began the action that led to the winner, sending a long pass up the right flank to Gennaro Sardo, who crossed to Moscardelli.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care