Juventus continued its march up the Serie A standings with a 1-0 win over AS Roma in Turin on Sunday, as Moise Kean’s unorthodox early goal sealed a fourth consecutive league win for the Turin club.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s header ricocheted off Kean’s head and into the back of the net after 16 minutes in the game’s decisive moment.
But Jose Mourinho’s side was furious when Tammy Abraham put the ball in the net but the goal was not allowed to stand because referee Daniele Orsato had already whistled for a penalty. Jordan Veretout took it and his effort was saved by Wojciech Szczesny.
Juve is seventh with 14 points, level with Lazio and Atalanta above it and one point behind fourth-placed Roma.
The result continues its recovery from a shock failure to win any of its opening four league matches.
It also marked Juve's third consecutive 1-0 win and a seventh game in a row unbeaten in all competitions.
Massimiliano Allegri was missing several players through injury like Paulo Dybala, Matthijs de Ligt and Adrien Rabiot, pushing him to select seven Italians, the highest number in a Juve starting lineup in Serie A since May 2015.
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His selection soon paid off when the hosts took the lead in unusual fashion.
Kean and Bentancur both leapt to meet a cross, and the Uruguayan midfielder headed it off his team mate’s head and into the back of the net.
Things got worse for Roma when Nicolo Zaniolo limped off with an injury, but it thought it had drawn level when chaos erupted at the end of the first half.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was felled as he dinked the ball over Szczesny inside the box, and Abraham was on hand to fire in the loose ball.
But Roma was awarded a penalty rather than a goal, as referee Daniele Orsato had blown his whistle between the goalkeeper’s foul and Abraham’s finish.
Veretout's spot kick was saved by Szczesny, who dived to his left to palm it away, the first unsuccessful penalty of the French midfielder’s spell at Roma on his 14th attempt.
Big chances were few and far between after the break.
Federico Bernardeschi’s spectacular overhead kick was spilled by Rui Patricio and Kean fired over the rebound, before Bernardeschi and Veretout fired narrowly wide with long-range efforts.
Mourinho threw on an extra striker, Eldor Shomurodov, for the final 10 minutes in search of an equaliser, but they could not find a way through a defensive wall marshalled by Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
NAPOLI MAINTAINS PERFECT START
Victor Osimhen scored an 81st-minute winner as Napoli beat Torino 1-0 to return to the top of the table and register a record-equalling eighth win in eight league games.
Luciano Spalletti’s side is top with 24 points, two clear of second-placed AC Milan.
An eighth consecutive victory means Napoli has equalled its best ever start to a Serie A season from 2017-18, when it went on to finish second behind Juventus with a club record 91 points.
However, Napoli faced a stern test trying to break through 12th-placed Torino.
“We deserved it, as the statistics show today and in general for the whole season. This league is not easy so we must continue like this, without stopping," Osimhen told DAZN.
Napoli had a golden chance to take the lead after 27 minutes when Benjamin Kone brought down Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the box, but Lorenzo Insigne’s resulting penalty was tame and easily saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
It was the Italy winger's third failed spot kick in five attempts this season, the worst record in Europe's top-five leagues.
Di Lorenzo headed the hosts in front after the break but the goal was disallowed for offside, before Napoli winger Hirving Lozano’s shot struck the foot of the post and the lively Josip Brekalo forced a smart save from David Ospina for the visitor.
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The Partenopei eventually found the breakthrough late on when an attempted clearance was deflected high into a busy box and Osimhen rose highest to head home his fifth league goal of the season.
“It was the most important goal of my career, because it was important to win and we embraced the fans this way,” Osimhen added.
OTHER MATCHES
Earlier on Sunday, Josip Ilicic scored twice and missed a penalty as Atalanta won 4-1 at midtable Empoli to move into sixth place, level on 14 points with fifth-placed Lazio.
Cagliari clinched its first win of the season as Joao Pedro netted a double in a 3-1 home win over Sampdoria, lifting the Sardinian side up to 18th place, level on six points with Sampdoria in 16th.
Ten-man Udinese came from behind to earn a point against fellow midtable side Bologna. After Roberto Pereyra was sent off shortly before the break to leave the host a man down, Musa Barrow put the visitor ahead in the 67th minute. Beto pulled the host level with seven minutes remaining.
Gianluca Scamacca scored twice in the opening 20 minutes for 14th-placed Sassuolo against his former club Genoa, but the Grifone fought back through Mattia Destro and Johan Vasquez to earn a 2-2 draw that leaves it 17th.
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