Rome: Bosnia internationals Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko scored in the second half as Roma beat bitter title rival Juventus 2-1 on Sunday, leaving the Turin power with two straight losses to start Serie A for the first time in their history.
With Roma dominating from the start, it was an early signal of a possible hierarchy change in Italy, where Juventus have won the league the past three seasons and Roma finished runner-up the last two.
"If you had told me before the match that we would have won 2-1, I would have signed for it in blood," Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. "We did everything we prepared to do. But this is just the start. We can't get overly enthusiastic and expect to always play like this."
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon hardly moved when Pjanic placed a free kick perfectly over Juventus' wall and into the left corner shortly after the hour mark.
After Juventus fullback Patrice Evra was sent off for his second yellow card, Dzeko headed home from inside the box in the 79th for his first goal since joining Roma on loan from Manchester City.
Paulo Dybala pulled one back for Juve in the 87th.
Roma have four points, two behind five squads with a full six points: Chievo Verona, Torino, Inter Milan, Sassuolo and Palermo. Juventus remained with zero points entering the international break.
The last time Juventus lost their opening two matches came in 1912, before Serie A existed.
"I understand that it's ugly for Juventus to lose two straight matches but that's also part of football," Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri said. "We've got to stay lucid because there's no sense in crying over these two losses. ... We've got to get our ideas back in order and start doing great things after the break."
With top players Carlos Tevez, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal having departed and new signees like Mario Mandzukic still settling in, Juventus have a long way to go to match their form from last season, when they reached the Champions League final.
"Juve had a cycle in which they relied on a few players. Some players you can replace, others you can't," said Roma veteran Daniele De Rossi. "You've got to spend a lot to replace players like Vidal or Tevez. And someone like Pirlo you can't even find a substitute for."
In other matches, Stevan Jovetic scored twice - giving him three goals in two matches - as Inter Milan won 2-1 at promoted Carpi, which was playing their first ever home match in the top division.
After Jovetic put Inter ahead early on, Antonio Di Gaudio, who has been with Carpi since 2010 when the squad was in the third division, equalized in the 81st. Jovetic, who recently joined Inter on loan from Manchester City, sealed it with a penalty in the 89th.
Carpi is playing its home games in Modena since its own stadium isn't large enough for Serie A.
Eder scored twice to rally Sampdoria from two goals down for a 2-2 draw at Napoli, which got two goals from Gonzalo Higuain. Eder also had a brace last week.
Elsewhere, it was: Atalanta 2, Frosinone 0; Chievo Verona 4, Lazio 0; Genoa 2, Hellas Verona 0; Torino 3, Fiorentina 1; and Udinese 0, Palermo 1.
In the capital, Roma's hard-core "ultra" fans carried out a silent protest over new security measures installed in the Curva Sud, which divided the section in half with two lines of stewards. There were no banners and no fireworks.
Still, the stadium was full and there was plenty of support as Roma funneled most of their play up the left flank with Iago Falque and Lucas Digne providing crosses for Dzeko in the center.
Juventus produced only one shot the entire first half, a low that hadn't been reached in Serie A since 2004-05.
Juve sorely missed the free kick specialist Pirlo when Dybala wasted a perfect dead-ball opportunity by shooting high shortly after Pjanic's goal. Juve's reserve goalkeeper Rubinho was then shown a red card on the bench for protests.
A minute after Evra was sent off, Falque lifted a cross which Dzeko rose to meet over Giorgio Chiellini and the match was virtually decided.
Wojciech Szczesny, Roma's new goalkeeper on loan from Arsenal, did the rest, saving a flurry of equalizing attempts from Juve after Dybala's goal.
Comments
0 comment