MILAN: Leonardo Bonucci’s spectacular late goal gave Juventus a 3-2 win over AS Roma in a stormy top-of-the-table Serie A clash which produced three first-half penalties, two red cards, several scuffles and heaps of controversy yesterday.
Carlos Tevez fired Juventus ahead with a 27th minute penalty, 38-year-old Francesco Totti replied five minutes later with another spot kick, Juan Iturbe put Roma ahead one minute before halftime before Tevez levelled again with a third penalty.
Bonucci crashed home a 20-metre volley in the 86th minute, then Juventus substitute Alvaro Morata and Roma’s Konstantinos Manolas were sent off after clashing. Roma’s coach Rudi Garcia was also dismissed in the first half.
Leaders Juventus, with 18 points from six games, maintained their 100 percent league record after six games this season and second-placed Roma dropped points for the first time.
Meanwhile, Sampdoria continued their solid start to Serie A with a 1-0 win over Atalanta that sent Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men third while Lazio finally kick started their season with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Sassuolo.
Unbeaten Samp have been one of the surprise packages of the season and had winger Manolo Gabbiadini to thank for a 35th minute winner at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium after he beat Marco Sportiello from close range. The Genoese side moved up to third place.
Fellow high-flyers Udinese spurned the chance to go third when Emmanuel Cascione levelled from the spot for visitors Cesena in the second minute of added-on time to grab a share of the spoils at the Friuli Stadium.
Hosts Udinese had taken a 62nd-minute lead through Bruno Fernandes, but Cesena won a late penalty when Alejandro Rodriguez was felled from behind by defender Silivan Widmer.
The northerners sit in fourth place, now two points off the pace but two ahead of Milan, who had Sulley Muntari and Keisuke Honda to thank for the goals in a precious 2-0 win over Chievo on Saturday. Lazio, meanwhile, made it two wins on the trot for the first time this season with a 3-2 win at the Olympic Stadium over basement side Sassuolo. Both sides finished with 10 men, Lorik Cana seeing red shortly after the restart and Federico Peluso following the Albanian down the tunnel on 61 minutes. AGENCIES
