Juve beat Cesena to return to top

04 December 2011 16:47

Juventus went back to the top of Serie A after a 2-0 victory over Cesena on Sunday.

Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal, from the penalty spot, scored the goals that restored the Old Lady of Turin's two-point lead over AC Milan and Udinese.

But the match was not without incident and controversy, not least the dismissal of Cesena goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli.

Juve dominated possession in the first half but managed only two shots on target, the best effort being from an angle by Mirko Vucinic that Antonioli nontheless saved comfortably.

Vucinic had another effort after the break that Antonioli parried, with Simone Pepe knocking the follow-up straight into the goalkeeper's arms.

Pepe then headed a great chance wide after meeting a cross from the left by Giorgio Chiellini.

Juve lost substitute and club captain Alessandro Del Piero after a clash with Marco Rossi that left him bloodied and carried off on a stretcher.

The hosts got the breakthrough their persistence, if not their effectiveness, deserved 17 minutes from time.

Marchisio played a one-two with Vidal and then turned and shot home smartly from the edge of the box.

Any chance of a Cesena comeback was wiped out with the dismissal of Antonioli in the most incredible circumstances.

He rushed from his line to punch clear the ball, which hit the incoming Emanuele Giacherini before rebounding out of play.

However, the two players collided in the action and to Cesena's astonishment, the referee pointed to the spot and sent off Antonioli.

Cesena had already made all their substitutions so defender Giullermo Rodriguez had to go in goal and his first job was to pick Vidal's penalty out of the net.

Roma finished with eight men as they crashed to a 3-0 humiliation at Fiorentina, who began the game by paying tribute to former player Socrates, who died earlier on Sunday.

Juan was harshly sent off inside the first quarter of the match as he gave away a penalty by bringing down Stevan Jovetic, who picked himself up to score from the spot.

Alessandro Gamberini then headed home a corner on the stroke of half-time.

Fernando Gago was sent off for a second booking and then Bojan Krkic was dismissed late on for blocking the ball on the line with his hands.

Santiago Silva completed Roma's misery by scoring Fiorentina's second penalty of the game.

Earlier, Victor Ibarbo scored a stunning individual goal to give Cagliari a 1-0 victory over Catania and their first win in eight matches.

On Saturday, Udinese won 1-0 at Inter Milan to temporarily join AC Milan at the top of the table ahead of Sunday's matches.

Mauricio Isla scored the only goal of a crazy game that erupted in the last five minutes, in which both teams had a player sent off and missed a penalty.

Inter captain Javier Zanetti was sent packing for a second booking for bringing down Kwadwo Asamoah in the box but goalkeeper Julio Cesar saved Antonio Di Natale's spot-kick.

Inter were awarded a penalty a minute from time when Damiano Ferronetti was adjudged to have brought down Diego Milito but Giampaolo Pazzini slipped as he struck the spot-kick and sent the ball flying over the bar.

Ferronetti, who was booked for the foul, then managed to pick up a second booking by berating the referee after the penalty was missed.

Milan had won 2-0 at Genoa on Friday, with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Nocerino, and lead Udinese on goal difference.

Napoli got their first win in five matches with a 4-2 victory over rock-bottom Lecce on Saturday, to reignite their hopes of being involved in the title race.

Source: AFP