ROME: No Cristiano Ronaldo. No wins for Juventus. The Bianconeri remained winless in Serie A and slumped to their second consecutive defeat since Ronaldo went back to Manchester United after losing at Napoli 2-1 on Saturday.
Napoli center back Kalidou Koulibaly scored five minutes from time after Moise Kean inexplicably headed the ball toward his own goal following a Napoli corner, setting up a tap-in for Koulibaly.
Matteo Politano equalized for Napoli near the hour mark following Álvaro Morata’s opener for Juventus 10 minutes in at Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Juventus remained with just one point from a 2-2 draw at Udinese in its season opener. With Massimiliano Allegri having returned as Juventus coach after Andrea Pirlo’s unsuccessful tenure last season ended a run of nine straight Italian league titles, Juventus also lost at home to promoted Empoli before the international break.
The loss to Empoli came a day after Ronaldo’s transfer while this defeat came on the day that Ronaldo scored twice on his return to United after 12 years in a 4-1 victory over Newcastle in the English Premier League.
Napoli, meanwhile, has won all three of its matches under new coach Luciano Spalletti and moved three points clear of Lazio, Inter Milan, Roma and AC Milan, which each play on Sunday.
The equalizer came when Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny didn’t do enough to control a long-range curled effort from Lorenzo Insigne and Politano slotted it in from near the ‘keeper’s left post.
Morata’s goal came following a defensive error from Kostas Manolas, who was attempting an ill-advised pass back to goalkeeper David Ospina. Morata took possession instead and beat Ospina from a sharp angle.
It was Morata’s first goal of the season after scoring 20 in 44 matches across all competitions last season for Juventus.
United States midfielder Weston McKennie played the opening 72 minutes for Juventus despite being banned from a pair of US World Cup qualifiers for violating the national team’s COVID-19 protocols.
McKennis also missed Juventus’ derby against Torino in April after violating COVID-19 protocols in Italy.
Allegri needed McKennie’s services after deciding not to use South American players Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado, Rodrigo Bentancur, Danilo and Alex Sandro because they had just returned from international duty.
McKennie nearly scored with a long, low shot that went just wide shortly after Politano’s goal.
Venezia earned its first points in Serie A in nearly 20 years with a 2-1 win at Serie B champion Empoli.
Back in the top division for the first time since 2001-02, Venezia’s goals came from two newly acquired players: French forward Thomas Henry and Nigerian striker David Okereke.
No Ronaldo, no wins for Juventus after losing at Napoli 2-1
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No Ronaldo, no wins for Juventus after losing at Napoli 2-1
- The Bianconeri remained winless and slumped to their 2nd consecutive defeat since Ronaldo left to Manchester United
- Juventus remained with just one point from a 2-2 draw at Udinese
‘Relieved’ Rahm wins LIV Golf event in Hong Kong
- Jon Rahm said he was “very relieved” after scoring a final-round 64 to win the LIV Golf event in Hong Kong by three shots on Sunday
HONGKONG: Jon Rahm said he was “very relieved” after scoring a final-round 64 to win the LIV Golf event in Hong Kong by three shots on Sunday.
It was the 31-year-old Spaniard’s first victory since LIV Golf Chicago in 2024 and ended a run of four runner-up finishes on the Saudi-backed circuit.
“Very relieved, just happy I could enjoy the walk down the 18th,” the two-time major champion said at Hong Kong Golf Club after finishing on 23-under, with Thomas Detry of Belgium second.
“I played really good all day,” said Rahm, who made eight birdies against two bogeys in his final round at Fanling.
Rahm, who celebrated his third LIV win, added: “Even though I shot six-under, what could have been with quite a few short putts missed and an errant shot on 18.
“It was incredible. But I just tried to stay very patient and committed to each shot, knowing that I was doing everything right and things were going to happen.
“I think that was the theme pretty much every round this week.”
Runner-up Detry was only able to play in Hong Kong after Rahm arranged a private jet to fly the Belgian and several other LIV players out of the Middle East.
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