Milan, October 25 (BNA) Paulo Dybala came back to save Juventus after their 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in the Italian derby.
Dybala converted a penalty a minute before the time to cancel Eden Dikko’s first-half opener for Inter, the Associated Press reported.
Inter remained in third place, seven points behind Napoli and Milan. Napoli earlier had their perfect start to the season with a 0-0 draw with Roma. They are ahead of AC Milan on goal difference alone after the Rossoneri beat Bologna 4-2 on Saturday. A head-to-head match is the first tie-break in Italy if the teams are tied at the end of the season.
“It was the only way we would have conceded a goal,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi. “We are disappointed because we controlled the match from the start without conceding anything to Juventus.
“We got rid of two points.”
Juventus is three points behind Inter.
“We always play to win, but today we played against a great team and the way the match was going, we got an important point,” Dybala said. “I recently had to sit up due to an injury, so I am very happy with this goal.
“After so many years here, I have learned from many of my teammates, from many leaders and now I am trying to help the youngsters. I think my time has come and I will always try to do my best for the team.”
After a difficult start to the season, Juventus have not lost in their previous eight matches before the eagerly awaited match and have won their last four matches 1-0. The defending champions Inter lost their first league match of the season last weekend in Lazio.
The Nerazzurri took the lead in the 17th minute. Hakan Çalhanoğlu unleashed a shout from a distance that bounced off the right post and Džeko shot the net into the net.
However, just as Inter looked on the verge of a potentially decisive victory, Juventus were awarded a penalty when Denzel Dumfries fouled Alex Sandro inside the area.
Juventus got a penalty on the video review and Inzaghi was so angry that he threw a piece of clothing on the field and was sent off. Dybala scored the penalty kick in the net. He entered in the 65th minute for his first appearance since an injury in the match against Sampdoria last month.
“The red card is good,” said Inzaghi. “I made a mistake like the referee made a mistake by indicating that everything is fine.”
Not the best
Napoli won all eight of their Serie A matches in a stunning start to the season, but was unable to get past Roma, despite being beaten twice in quick succession and a late goal disqualification.
Roma coach Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands to protest nine minutes from the end. His Napoli counterpart, Luciano Spalletti, also received a red card after the final whistle as the referee deemed his applause ridiculous, despite the coach’s enthusiastic protests that it was genuine.
Mourinho was looking for a reaction after Roma lost 6-1 at the hands of Norway’s Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League midweek.
But it was Naples who came close to breaking the deadlock, an hour later, when Victor Osimhen hit the right post from a point-
Empty range under pressure, and a desperate intervention by Rick Karsdorp prevented Mario Roy from turning around. As the head of the resulting corner of the Osimene at the top of the bar.
Roma missed three chances in quick succession as Lorenzo Pellegrini missed twice and Gianluca Mancini’s free kick was narrowly missed.
Osimhen thought he had won the title two minutes before the end but I saw it was canceled for offside.
Four stars Simeon
Giovanni Simeone scored all four goals against his father’s former team as Hellas Verona defeated Lazio 4-1.
Simeone scored twice in each half with the help of Gianluca Capari, who was also in an inspiring state.
The 26-year-old Simeone is the son of current Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone, who played more than 100 matches for Lazio and helped the team achieve the league and cup double in 2000.
Ciro Immobile cut the gap with Lazio in half at the start of the second half.
The match was also noteworthy as the grandson of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini – 18-year-old defender Romano Floriani Mussolini – was off the bench for the first time at Lazio.
Lazio slipped to eighth, while Atalanta advanced one point above the capital team to fifth after a 1-1 draw with Udinese.
Atalanta was suffering from an injury crisis but seemed to be heading to win thanks to a goal by Ruslan Malinovsky in the 56th minute, but Beto was in a corner kick in the fourth minute of injury time.
Fiorentina advanced to seventh place with a comfortable 3-0 victory over relegation-threatened Cagliari.