Roma prolong Juventus misery

AFP, MILAN: Juventus’s early season woes continued on Sunday with a 2-1 defeat to scudetto rivals Roma as Chievo went top of Serie A with a resounding 4-0 win over Lazio.
A week after being stunned at home by Udinese, Juventus, the Italian champions and beaten Champions League finalists, suffered a second straight league defeat at the start of the season for the first time in their history.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri has called for fans’ patience as several new recruits, notably Carlos Tevez’s replacement Mario Mandzukic, settle in at the club.
But the 48-year-old Italian suggested the Turin giants, only a few months after a fairytale end to a double-winning season, have yet to focus fully on the job of defending their fourth consecutive title.
In a later tweet, Allegri added that Juventus have to “work to fix the things that are not working, get the new lads settled and don’t cry about it: let’s get back on top quickly!”
Runners-up to Juventus the past two seasons, Roma raced into a 2-0 lead with 11 minutes to play thanks to Bosnia pair Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko after Juventus had been reduced to 10 men following Patrice Evra’s sending-off.
The champions, who sit 17th, pulled a consolation goal back, their first of the league season, through Paulo Dybala in the final minutes.
But Roma were dominant throughout and fully deserved beating Juventus in the league for the first time since Francesco Totti sealed a 1-0 win in February 2013.
Having slipped to a 1-1 draw at Verona last week, Roma emerged among Serie A’s high-flyers on a day that produced more than a few surprises.
Lazio, whose Champions League group stage hopes were ended midweek in the play-off by Bayer Leverkusen, looked despondent as Chievo ran riot at their Bentegodi stadium.
Riccardo Meggiorino’s opener took a deflection before bobbling past Lazio goalkeeper Etrit Berisha on 12 minutes, but his next trick was far more impressive.
As a cross from the left was swept beyond the far post, Meggiorini somehow got his heel to the ball and knocked it back in towards Alberto Paloschi, who beat Berisha with a firm header from close range.
Former AC Milan forward Walter Birsa all but wrapped up the points for the hosts on the stroke of half-time when he curled the perfect free kick into Berisha’s top right-hand corner.

 

Roma prolong Juventus misery

AFP, MILAN: Juventuss early season woes continued on Sunday with a 2-1 defeat to scudetto rivals Roma as Chievo went top of Serie A with a resounding 4-0 win over Lazio. A week after being stunned at home by Udinese, Juventus, the Italian champions and beaten Champions League finalists, suffered a second straight league defeat at the start of the season for the first time in their history. Coach Massimiliano Allegri has called for fans patience as several new recruits, notably Carlos Tevezs replacement Mario Mandzukic, settle in at the club. But the 48-year-old Italian suggested the Turin giants, only a few months after a fairytale end to a double-winning season, have yet to focus fully on the job of defending their fourth consecutive title. In a later tweet, Allegri added that Juventus have to work to fix the things that are not working, get the new lads settled and dont cry about it: lets get back on top quickly! Runners-up to Juventus the past two seasons, Roma raced into a 2-0 lead with 11 minutes to play thanks to Bosnia pair Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko after Juventus had been reduced to 10 men following Patrice Evras sending-off. The champions, who sit 17th, pulled a consolation goal back, their first of the league season, through Paulo Dybala in the final minutes. But Roma were dominant throughout and fully deserved beating Juventus in the league for the first time since Francesco Totti sealed a 1-0 win in February 2013. Having slipped to a 1-1 draw at Verona last week, Roma emerged among Serie As high-flyers on a day that produced more than a few surprises. Lazio, whose Champions League group stage hopes were ended midweek in the play-off by Bayer Leverkusen, looked despondent as Chievo ran riot at their Bentegodi stadium. Riccardo Meggiorinos opener took a deflection before bobbling past Lazio goalkeeper Etrit Berisha on 12 minutes, but his next trick was far more impressive. As a cross from the left was swept beyond the far post, Meggiorini somehow got his heel to the ball and knocked it back in towards Alberto Paloschi, who beat Berisha with a firm header from close range. Former AC Milan forward Walter Birsa all but wrapped up the points for the hosts on the stroke of half-time when he curled the perfect free kick into Berishas top right-hand corner.