Two late goals from Mirko Vucinic and Kwadwo Asamoah sent Serie A champions Juventus back to the top of the table thanks to a 3-1 win away at Genoa on Sunday.
A double strike from Brazilian midfielder Hernanes and a second-half effort from Miroslva Klose had been enough to send SS Lazio top thanks to a 3-1 victory away at AC Chievo Verona in the day’s early match.
Three days before meeting Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, Juve showed poise and determination to remain unbeaten in 42 matches.
Photo: AFP
Genoa dominated the first half and went in at the break a goal up thanks to a 17th-minute strike from Ciro Immobile, but a double Juve substitution just before the hour mark, with Vucinic coming on for Alessandro Matri and Asamoah replacing Paolo de Ceglie, proved inspirational.
Genoa seemed ready to grab a second goal when Marco Borriello slammed a header against the bar just before the hour mark. Gianluigi Buffon then did well to save Andrea Bertolacci’s strike.
However, Juventus pulled level moments later when midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini shaped a great shot past French goalkeeper Sebastien Frey from 25m.
The match then turned when Bertolacci fouled Asamoah and Vucinic put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot.
Asamoah put the match beyond reach for Genoa when he pounced to slam the ball past Frey after Vucinic’s cross came off Genoa’s Swedish defender Andreas Granqvist.
Juve caretaker coach Massimo Carrera, standing in as Antonio Conte serves a 10-month ban for his role in an illegal sports-betting affair, said the match could have gone either way.
“We suffered in the first half, but in the second half we played wider, increased the pace and managed to turn things around,” Carrera told Sky Sports, underlining Buffon’s contribution. “Gigi made a great save, without that miracle it might have finished 3-2.”
Prior to Sunday, only four teams had managed to win their first two games of the season and the same four maintained their 100 percent records.
In a highly entertaining match, UC Sampdoria gave the other half of Genoa some cheer with a 3-2 win away at struggling newcomers Delfino Pescara 1936, while SSC Napoli continued their promising start to the season with a 3-1 home win over Parma.
While Lazio were celebrating, their cross-town rivals AS Roma were left scratching their heads after a 3-2 reverse to Bologna at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma had a 2-0 lead at halftime thanks to a headed goal from Alessandro Florenzi and a left-foot strike from Argentine Erik Lamela, but the Giallorossi were stunned late in the second half. On-loan Genoa striker Gilardino pulled one back on 72 minutes and the visitors leveled through playmaker Alessandro Diamani a minute later.
Alberto Gilardino then grabbed a shock winner on 90 minutes to leave Zdenek Zeman’s side in seventh with only four points.
“We had a solid first half and after we had settled into the match, Bologna came back at us,” Zeman said, admitting the hosts had suffered a “heavy blow.”
Inter began their late match away at Torino in need of a win to move out of a midtable position and Andrea Stramaccioni’s side had to wait only 13 minutes before Argentine Diego Milito put them ahead.
Inter, who host Rubin Kazan on Thursday in their Europa League Group H opener, then had Antonio Cassano to thank for the 83rd-minute goal that sealed a 2-0 win and moved them up to fifth, three points adrift of Juventus.
ACF Fiorentina’s 2-0 win over Catania came courtesy of goals from Montenegrin striker Stevan Jovetic and former La Viola striker Luca Toni, who made his debut after recently resigning for the Florence-based club.
Elsewhere, AC Siena drew 2-2 at home to Udinese.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS