ROME (Reuters) - Juventus is still searching for its first victory in the new Serie A season after being turned around by Napoli 2-1 in the thrid round on Saturday.
Having tied with Udinese and lost to Empoli in the opening two rounds, Juve now has only one point after Saturday’s game, while Napoli tops the Serie A standings with three victories.
The Bianconeri was decimated by injuries and international duty, as it rested all the South American players who were back from national sides including Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado, Alex Sandro, Rodrigo Bentancur and Danilo.
Napoli had a more aggressive start, earning a series of corners, but it was Juve that scored the opener in the 10th minute, when Kostas Manolas’ back pass was intercepted by Alvaro Morata, who dribbled into the box to find the net from a tight angle.
The home side got back on level terms in the 57th minute when Lorenzo Insigne’s trademark curler smacked the woodwork and Matteo Politano was alert to tap in the rebound.
Napoli dominated the second half and took a deserved lead in the 86th minute as a corner forced Juve striker Moise Kean to make a poor clearance, Wojciech Szczesny meekly palmed it away, only for Kalidou Koulibaly to bundle it over from a close range.
“Defensively we played very well today, unlike against Udinese and Empoli. I have no complaints about my players. The game was decided by individual mistakes and moments. We obviously need to do better technically because we were a bit sloppy and should have scored another goal in the first half but we played with real character,” said Juve’s coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Also on Saturday, a pair of penalties from Dusan Vlahovic helped Fiorentina beat Atalanta 2-1 away, while Empoli lost to Venezia 2-1 on home turf.