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Juve goes top, Napoli frustrated at Genoa
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CHAMPION Juventus returned to the top of the Italian Serie A with a 4-0 home rout of Cagliari on Wednesday, while former leader Napoli dropped to second after being held to a goalless draw at Genoa.
First-half efforts from Daniele Rugani, Gonzalo Higuain and Dani Alves and a late own goal from Luca Ceppitelli helped Juventus ease to its fourth win of the season and up to 12 points, one ahead of Napoli on 11.
Inter Milan beat Empoli 2-0 away after a first-half double from Mauro Icardi to go fifth on 10 points, while AS Roma jumped to third, also on 10, after thrashing Crotone 4-0.
Juventus was criticized after its loss to Inter on Sunday and boss Massimiliano Allegri made six changes to his team, with record signing Higuain restored to the starting lineup.
However, it was defender Rugani who opened the scoring with a poacher’s finish, reacting first to tap past Marco Storari after the keeper saved from Higuain’s volley.
Lashing the ball
Higuain did get on the scoresheet in the 34th minute when he fired home the rebound after Storari had blocked Miralem Pjanic’s effort. Alves added a third six minutes later with his first for Juventus, lashing the ball from the edge of the box after being picked out by a Pjanic corner.
“I’m happy to return to the top of the table and we played well,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia. “The boys took the right approach, although maybe when we were 2-0 up we should’ve controlled the tempo instead of pushing forward looking for a third goal too unreservedly.”
Juventus replaced goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at halftime due to injury, but added to its tally in the 83rd when Ceppitelli deflected the ball past Storari.
Napoli, Serie A’s top scorer heading into Wednesday, was held at Genoa despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession and was left ruing two penalty appeals that were turned down.
Marek Hamsik struck the woodwork as Maurizio Sarri’s side was forced to settle for a point, with a foul on Arkadiusz Milik in the box and Lucas Ocampos’s handball going unpunished.
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