Juventus missed the chance to retake the lead in Serie A as Parma held them to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.
AC Milan had gone top with a 2-1 win at Udinese on Saturday, but the draw, Juve’s 10th in 22 league games this season, left them a point behind the Rossoneri.
They still have a game in hand, though, and did at least maintain their unbeaten run this season, extending it to 25 matches in all competitions.
Despite their superiority, Juve rarely looked likely to break down Parma and even resorted to hopeful penalty claims.
Juventus dominated the first half and should have had an early lead.
Giorgio Chiellini got up to meet Andrea Pirlo’s free-kick, but his header bounced off the base of the post.
The rest of the half involved lots of Juve probing, but few concrete chances.
Arturo Vidal looped a high ball into the box and Alessandro Matri got up to meet it, but his header lacked power.
Pirlo came inches away from producing something special, but his free-kick from 20m flew just past the post.
Mirko Vucinic beat a man on the edge of the box with a clever jink, but his finish was woeful while Matri burrowed into the area only to overrun the ball allowing Nicola Pavarini to come out and smother the ball.
Parma came out with more purpose after the break and created their first chance as former Juve forward Sebastian Giovinco, following a swift counter, forced Gianluigi Buffon into a sprawling save.
The whole second period took on a different shape, with Parma far more positive and Juve struggling to create anything of note.
Giovinco looked the most dangerous player on the pitch after the break, but too often seemed to go to ground rather than head for goal.
Juve started to click toward the end of the game, but still could not find the breakthrough.
Pirlo hit one from distance that had Pavarini bundling the ball behind, while Claudio Marchisio fizzed a shot just past the upright.
Six minutes from time Juve should have won it as Pirlo dinked the ball over the top, but Pavarini made a vital stop to deny Emanuele Giaccherini.
In the day’s other game Guido Marilungo scored the only goal as Atalanta BC beat Genoa 1-0 in a mid-table battle.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was