MILAN: Juventus trail Serie A leaders Inter Milan by nine points after being held 2-2 at relegation-threatened Verona, as a 1-1 draw with Genoa left champions Napoli deep in crisis.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side had their league title hopes further damaged following an entertaining encounter at the Stadio Bentegodi in which Adrien Rabiot stopped Juve from losing a third consecutive match.
France midfielder Rabiot rifled home second-placed Juve’s leveller nine minutes after the break, moments after Tijjani Noslin had put hosts Verona ahead for the second time in the match.
Michael Folorunsho, whose touch led to Noslin’s goal, had smashed Marco Baroni’s team into the lead early on with a stunning volley only for Dusan Vlahovic to equalize from the penalty spot in the 28th minute.
“We should have done more, we’ve dropped points along the way recently. But we started playing too late and it’s those details which make the difference,” said Rabiot.
“But we need to get back on track, regain trust in ourselves and starting winning again.”
The draw didn’t do a huge amount for Verona as they stay just inside the relegation zone, level on points with 17th-placed Sassuolo who are at Atalanta later on Saturday and have two games in hand.
However it was a strong performance for a club that let a raft of players go in January, and it also extended Juve’s winless run to four matches.
That poor form means that Juve are not only watching Inter charge off into the distance, they are now also looking over their shoulders at AC Milan.
A win at Monza on Sunday night would allow Milan, two points behind Juve in third, to snatch second spot from their rivals.
“We need to be realistic,” added Rabiot. “Inter are going their own way and we need to fight to keep hold of second place.”
Napoli’s draw was another heavy blow for the ailing Serie A champions ahead of the visit of Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Cyril Ngonge saved a home point for Napoli in the final minute after Morten Frendrup had given Genoa the lead with a powerful first-time finish just after half-time.
Napoli ran away with the league title last season but are now 27 points behind Inter in ninth spot meaning their chances of a place in next season’s revamped Champions League are increasingly slim.
Six points separate Napoli from fourth-placed Atalanta and that gap could easily be extended to nine.
“The players do what they can but things just don’t go our way,” said Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri, whose position is under serious threat after collecting just 15 points from 12 matches since taking over in November.
“The few errors we make we always have to correct because we end up conceding. We try everything but we struggle to score goals. It’s hard to explain.”
Ngonge’s low finish meant Napoli avoided a ninth defeat in all competitions since Mazzarri replaced Rudi Garcia, but being booed off the pitch was awful preparation for their last 16 tie with Barca.
Neither Napoli nor Barca are having stellar seasons but it would have been impossible to imagine how far Napoli would fall so soon after last season’s historic third league title.
Mazzarri said that he “hopes” to have star striker Victor Osimhen back for Wednesday’s first leg in Naples after sitting out Saturday’s defeat.
But Napoli’s goal problems run deeper than Osimhen being at the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and they created very little against 12th-placed Genoa, making a result against Barca look like a huge task.
Juve hand Inter nine-point lead as Napoli crisis deepens
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Juve hand Inter nine-point lead as Napoli crisis deepens
- France midfielder Rabiot rifled home second-placed Juve’s leveller nine minutes after the break
- “We should have done more, we’ve dropped points along the way recently,” said Rabiot
Kane scores as Bayern deliver comeback romp over Leipzig
- The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund
- Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break
LEIPZIG, Germany: Harry Kane scored his 21st goal of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 5-1 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, while continuing their record-breaking campaign.
Unbeaten Bayern have dropped just four points on their way to a record-equalling tally of 50 after 18 games. Bayern’s total of 71 goals scored is also a record at this stage of a German league season.
Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break, Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Michael Olize all scoring.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said Leipzig were “twice as good as we were” in the opening half, adding “but in the second-half — my god, the boys delivered.
“We weren’t afraid and we really went for it.”
Leipzig goalscorer Romulo said “we played 75 minutes really on top, then I don’t know what happened, we turned off our minds. We have to learn something out of that.”
Leipzig were strong early and broke through after 20 minutes when Romulo snuck past Bayern’s Tah to poke in an Antonio Nusa pass from close range.
The hosts were undone in the simplest fashion just after half-time. Dayot Upamecano picked Christoph Baumgartner’s pocket and fed Gnabry, who guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Bayern took the lead after 67 minutes, once again thanks to a Leipzig mistake.
Olize’s floated cross looked harmless until Ridle Baku lost his footing, allowing an unmarked Kane time and space to blast home.
With Leipzig’s resistance broken, Tah, Pavlovic and Olize all scored in the final 10 minutes, while Jamal Musiala returned late off the bench after a six-month injury absence.
- Can rescues Dortmund -
Earlier, an Emre Can penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time saved Borussia Dortmund’s blushes in a 3-2 home win against lowly St. Pauli.
In the dying moments, VAR found a foul on Germany forward Maximilian Beier, bringing Dortmund captain Can to the spot.
“What a rollercoaster ride,” Can told Sky Germany.
“We need to do much better to settle things down and to convert our chances,” he added.
The hosts overcame a poor first half when Julian Brandt tapped in from close range just before the break. Having created the opener, Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a two-goal buffer in the 54th minute, converting a Fabio Silva assist.
Rock-bottom St. Pauli had won just once since September but fought back into the game when James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones scored inside 10 minutes midway through the second half to stun the hosts.
Deep into stoppage time, Jones caught Beier on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Can to convert nervelessly from the spot.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s Wouter Burger scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over flailing Bayer Leverkusen to climb past Leipzig into third in the table.
Burger swung in an excellent free-kick after nine minutes to give the hosts the three points.
“That was an important one,” Burger said of his free-kick. “I was practicing them a bit this morning.”
Relegation candidates last season, Hoffenheim are on track to qualify for Europe’s top competition for just the second time in their history, having last done so under now-Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in 2017/18.
Leverkusen have now lost four of their past six, falling three points behind the Champions League placings.
Cologne beat Mainz 2-1 at home, Wolfsburg played out a 1-1 home draw with Heidenheim and hosts Hamburg were held to a scoreless draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
