Juve clobbers Napoli to close gap on Roma
Print Edition
Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba scored spectacular second-half goals to help Juventus beat Napoli 3-0 on Sunday, closing the gap on Serie A leader AS Roma to one point and leaving its opponent trailing in third place.
Playmaker Pirlo fired a viciously dipping free kick over the Napoli wall from nearly 30 meters, then Pogba collected a pass, flicked the ball up and volleyed home from a similar distance beyond a bemused Pepe Reina six minutes later.
Roma, which won its first 10 games, was held to a second successive 1-1 draw after conceding a 94th-minute equalizer at home to lowly Serie A newcomer Sassuolo.
Familiar routines continued at Fiorentina, where Giuseppe Rossi scored two more goals in a 2-1 win over Sampdoria, and AC Milan, which remained in crisis mode after a goalless draw at bottom club Chievo.
Roma leads with 32 points from 12 games, with Juventus on 31 and Rafael Benitez’s Napoli on 28 after its second league defeat of the season.
Juventus made a flying start and Reina had already stopped one Pogba effort before Fernando Llorente turned in a deflected shot from close range after only two minutes.
Reina brilliantly stopped close-range headers from Leonardo Bonucci and Llorente before halftime, although Napoli came back into the match after the break with Lorenzo Insigne always menacing.
Juventus settled the match in six stunning minutes, which began with Pirlo scoring from a typically majestic free kick before he was upstaged by Pogba, the player tipped to take over his mantle when the 34-year-old eventually retires.
“I was happy with my goal, but I’m happier with the win,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia. “We tried to send a signal to those in front of us, to let them know we’re going to have a great season.”
Titleholder Juventus finished with 10 men after defender Angelo Ogbonna was sent off for a second bookable offense late in the game
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
