Amauri goal ends Juventus wait for victory

Brazilian-born forward Amauri ended a barren four-match run in Serie A for Juventus yesterday by scoring the only goal in a laboured 1-0 win at struggling Siena.

Amauri rose between two markers to head home a Diego free-kick in the 72nd minute to break the deadlock after the Turin side had struggled to pose a threat for much of the match.

Juve are third with 18 points from nine games, four behind Inter and two shy of second-placed Sampdoria, after the leading duo beat Catania 2-1 and Bologna 4-1 respectively on Saturday.

Fiorentina and Milan are three points further back. The Viola lost 1-0 at home to Napoli while the Rossoneri came from behind to beat Chievo 2-1.

Juventus had plenty of problems with the defensive wall erected by their Tuscan opponents and centre back Giorgio Chiellini headed their only decent chance of the first half wide.

But they reaped the maximum reward for raising the tempo briefly in the middle of the second half and Amauri's goal sank Siena to the foot of the table, putting more pressure on coach Marco Giampaolo.

"It was fundamentally important for us to get back to winning," Juve coach Ciro Ferrara, who made a number of changes to the side that beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, told Rai television.

"We managed to do that even though we had problems. I think it bodes well for Wednesday's match (against Sampdoria)."

Napoli's Christian Maggio ran on to a German Denis pass and poked in a late goal to hand Fiorentina their first home defeat this season and give Napoli their first away victory in 12 months.

They looked like they were set to go home with just a point when Fiorentina's Sebastien Frey pushed away Fabio Quagliarella's spot-kick 10 minutes from time.

Palermo climbed up to joint fourth alongside the Florence club with a 1-0 home win over Udinese secured by Cesare Bovo's deflected late volley.

Livorno moved off the bottom by beating Roma 1-0 away thanks to former Roma forward Francesco Tavano's 40th-minute strike to give new coach Serse Cosmi a win in his first game in charge despite having goalkeeper Alfonso De Lucia sent off in the 64th.

Roma's Mirko Vucinic had struck the post in the 56th minute having just messed up a glorious opportunity to equalise with the goal gaping.

Nesta winner

Alessandro Nesta scored twice, including a stoppage-time winner, as Milan came from behind to beat Chievo last night.

Giampiero Pinzi put the home side ahead in the seventh minute but Chievo were unable to hold onto their advantage and succumbed to some heavy late pressure.

Nesta scored the equaliser in the 81st minute before heading home the winner deep in time added on.

The outcome lifted Milan up to sixth position in the Serie A standings and left them seven points behind leaders and city rivals Inter.