Vlahović to the rescue as Juventus snatches 1-1 draw against Bologna amid jeers. Napoli wins again
MILAN (AP) — Juventus needed Dušan Vlahović's late goal to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna in Serie A on Sunday.
Lewis Ferguson had given Bologna the lead in the 24th minute and the Bianconeri were booed off the field at halftime. But Vlahović, who earlier had a goal ruled out for offside, headed in the equalizer with 10 minutes remaining.
Defending champion Napoli made it two wins out of two after beating 10-man Sassuolo 2-0. Last year's runner-up Lazio surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to newly promoted Genoa.
After a difficult time last season, Juventus had kicked off the new campaign with a 3-0 win at Udinese. It was a second tricky test for Bologna, which lost to AC Milan in its opener.
The visitors took the lead after Joshua Zirkzee drew two defenders towards him and managed to knock the ball forward to Ferguson, who had time to control and fire into the far bottom corner.
After the jeers at halftime, Juventus appeared to have more impetus in the second period and thought it had taken the lead seven minutes after the break but Vlahović’s strike was ruled out as Adrien Rabiot was in an offside position.
Bologna reckoned it should have had a penalty in the 70th minute when forward Dan Ndoye collided with Juventus winger Samuel Iling-Junior but the referee waved away their protests. Bologna coach Thiago Motta was booked for dissent while one of his staff was sent off.
Iling-Junior was involved in the equalizer 10 minutes later with a cross from the right that Vlahović headed into the bottom right corner.
KVARADONA’S BACK
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia made his season debut and took just three minutes to produce a moment of magic.
The Napoli winger, last season’s revelation and nicknamed “Kvaradona,” came on as a substitute in the 61st minute. Shortly afterward he sent a delightful through ball to put Giovanni Di Lorenzo clear on goal for a simple finish and Napoli's second goal.
Kvaratskhelia missed last weekend’s win at Frosinone with a muscular problem.
Napoli almost got its first home match of the season off to the perfect start but Giacomo Raspadori’s effort from point-blank range came off the right post in the opening minute.
It took the lead in the 16th minute when Victor Osimhen converted a penalty after Daniel Boloca fouled Matteo Politano.
Sassuolo’s chances of getting something from the match diminished six minutes into the second half when midfielder Maxime Lopez was shown a red card for something he said to the referee – repeatedly.
Napoli should have doubled its lead on the hour mark but Raspadori clipped the crossbar with a spot kick following a handball by Sassuolo defender Jeremy Toljan.
RETEGUI OFF THE MARK
Mateo Retegui headed in his first Serie A goal to give Genoa a huge win at the Stadio Olimpico.
The 24-year-old Retegui had netted twice in the Italian Cup earlier this month. The Argentina-born forward, who has Italian citizenship through his maternal grandmother, also scored in his first two matches for Italy in March.
Lazio has zero points after surprisingly losing at Lecce in their opener last weekend after the opposition scored two late goals.
Lecce followed that up by coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Fiorentina on Sunday.
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