MILAN: Teenage Argentine Mauro Icardi scored twice as Serie A leaders Juventus slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to lowly Sampdoria who came from behind to win despite playing for an hour with 10-men yesterday.
Juve had won their last four Serie A games while Sampdoria had lost 10 of their last 13 and only one outcome looked possible after Sebastian Giovinco put the hosts ahead with a 24th-minute penalty and Sampdoria had Gaetano Berardi dismissed.
Instead, Icardi netted twice in the second half as Sampdoria hit back out of the blue.
There was a further shock as third-placed Fiorentina went down to their first home defeat of the season, losing 2-0 to relegation-threatened Pescara, and fourth-placed Inter Milan were beaten 3-0 at Udinese as they continued their slump.
Goalkeeper Mattia Perin was the hero for Pescara, saving everything Fiorentina could throw at him before Jonathas and Mervain Celik snatched the points by scoring from the visitors’ only two real chances.
Inter dominated the first hour at Udinese and missed a flurry of chances including one incredible effort from Brazilian Jonathan who contrived to fire wide from six meters in the 54th minute with the goal at his mercy.
They paid the price when 35-year-old striker Antonio Di Natale scored twice and Colombian Luis Muriel was also on target in the closing half hour.
Inter’s unhappy afternoon was complete when defender Juan Jesus sent off for a second bookable offense.
Juventus, with 44 points from 19 games, still reached the halfway mark in the championship with a five-point lead over Lazio, who beat Cagliari 2-1 on Saturday. Fiorentina and Inter have 35 points.
In other matches, two goals by Marco Boriello gave Genoa a 2-0 win over Bologna which lifted them out of the relegation zone while Bojan Krkic and Giampaolo Pazzini scored to give seventh-placed AC Milan a 2-1 win at home to bottom club Siena.
Chievo Verona beat Atalanta 1-0 in a mid-table clash and a stoppage-time goal from Amauri gave Parma a 2-1 win over Palermo which left the Sicilians one place off the bottom with 15 points, one below Cagliari and two adrift of 17th-placed Genoa.
Igor Budan had put Palermo level in the 85th minute, wiping out Ishak Belfodil’s opening goal.
Juventus had won 14 of their first 18 games and took the lead when Giovinco converted a penalty awarded after Claudio Marchisio was fouled in the 24th minute.
Seven minutes later, Berardi was given a second yellow card as Sampdoria’s problems multiplied.
But Sampdoria levelled seven minutes after the re-start when Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon misjudged Icardi’s awkwardly bouncing shot.
In the 68th minute, the 19-year-old got to the byline and then fired into the roof of the net from an almost impossible angle.
Fiorentina should have been several goals clear at halftime against Pescara but Perin brilliantly kept the hosts at bay with saves from Alberto Aquilani, twice, and Borja Valero.
Jonathas then headed the visitors in front after 57 minutes and, despite further Fiorentina pressure, Celik added another in stoppage time when he won the ball off Sebastian Rocaglia and slid his finish under goalkeeper Neto.
Juventus stunned at home by 10-man Sampdoria
Juventus stunned at home by 10-man Sampdoria
Inter continue Scudetto march after Champions League humbling
- Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan bounced back from Champions League elimination with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa which continued their march toward the Serie A title.
Federico Dimarco’s brilliant volley just after the half-hour mark and Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty were enough for Inter to extend their already huge lead over AC Milan at the top of the table to 13 points.
Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto.
Inter, whose fans unloaded a collection of anti-Milan chants in anticipation of the derby, have dropped just two points in 15 league matches and have been a cut above the rest in Italy’s top flight this season.
Their domestic dominance comes in stark contrast to the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
A 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows cast doubts over not just the quality of Cristian Chivu’s team but of Italian football as a whole.
There was plenty of quality in Dimarco’s opener however, the Italy full-back beautifully placing a first-time finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Little else happened in a humdrum encounter until Alex Amorim handled a cross from Luis Henrique, whose shot had been tipped onto the post just moments before.
Calhanoglu calmly stroked home the spot-kick on his return to action following niggling muscle problems which have caused him issues since before Christmas, sealing the points for Inter.
Big Rom back
Romelu Lukaku kept Napoli on course for a Champions League spot with a last-gasp winner in the champions’ 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Verona, the Belgium forward’s first goal of the season.
Lukaku forced home Giovane’s cross to snatch the win for third-placed Napoli with the last kick of the game at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Napoli had looked like dropping points in northern Italy when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro levelled Rasmus Hojlund’s early opener in the 65th minute.
But Lukaku, who only played his first game of the season in late January, gave Napoli a huge win with both Como and Atalanta pushing for a top-four placing.
“I was a dead player before coming here,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“This season has been difficult, but we’ve got to aim high.”
Napoli’s title defense is all but over as they trail Inter by 14 points after an injury-ravaged season.
Napoli were missing key midfielders Scott McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa on Saturday, as well as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Verona, under interim coach Paolo Sammarco following the sacking of Paolo Zanetti earlier this month, are 10 points from safety after a 12th straight match without a win.
Como, who face Inter in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday, strolled to 3-1 victory over strugglers Lecce to continue their push for a first-ever qualification for European football.
Cesc Fabregas’s team are two points behind Roma, in fourth and Juventus’ opponents on Sunday, and five behind Napoli.
Como are also two points ahead of sixth-placed Juve who face Roma trying to stay in touch with the Champions League places after being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition by Galatasaray on Wednesday.
