Juventus scored three goals in the opening 19 minutes to destroy AS Roma 4-1 and move three points clear in Serie A on Saturday.
AC Milan’s poor start to the season continued as they produced a patchy performance in a 1-1 draw at Parma, a result that failed to ease the pressure on coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Champions Juventus are now nine points ahead of Milan as their long unbeaten run continued. They have avoided defeat in their last 45 league matches.
Photo: Reuters
Andrea Pirlo’s deflected free-kick gave them the lead after 10 minutes, although Roma’s players protested that the free-kick should not have been awarded, with TV replays showing there was no contact between Rodrigo Taddei and Claudio Marchisio.
Juventus took advantage and doubled their lead five minutes later when confusion in the Roma box led to Leandro Castan blocking Alessandro Matri’s shot with his hand and giving away a penalty, which Artur Vidal calmly slotted home.
Three minutes later, Matri took advantage of a sloppy defensive line to stride on to a Vidal through ball and lift a deft finish past Maarten Stekelenburg.
Antonio Conte’s side could have easily added to their total with Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic both hitting the crossbar before the break.
Roma were given a lifeline after 65 minutes when Leonardo Bonucci brought down Mattia Destro after the Roma attacker played a neat one-two in the Juventus penalty area with strike partner Pablo Osvaldo, who sent Gianluigi Buffon the wrong way from the penalty spot.
However, Juve were in no mood to allow Roma off the hook and Sebastian Giovinco put the icing on the cake in the final minute, racing on to an Andrea Barzagli through ball to round Stekelenburg and seal the points.
The defeat leaves Roma on eight points, eight behind the champions and well off the pace.
“Matches like this have to teach us something, you learn from this, and the team needs to realize that we’ve done very little. We hardly won a tackle,” said Roma coach Zdenek Zeman, who is starting to come under fire. “I don’t understand why we run so little and created hardly anything. It has to be a mental problem.”
Stephan El Shaarawy gave AC Milan the lead five minutes into the second half with his fourth goal of the season, skipping past Cristian Zaccardo in the penalty area and firing through Antonio Mirante’s legs.
Roberto Donadoni’s Parma responded well to going behind and were invigorated by the introduction of Jonathan Biabany.
Taking the game to Milan, they were rewarded after 66 minutes when Daniele Galloppa drilled home a low free-kick.
Both sides pressed for the win in a frantic finale, but neither created much in the way of genuine opportunities and they had to settle for a draw, which left Milan on seven points.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two