Sinisa Mihajlovic was denied a winning start as Sampdoria coach when his 10-man side conceded a goal with the last kick of the game to draw 1-1 with Lazio in a scrappy but dramatic Serie A match yesterday.
Defending champions Juventus went top, at least until Roma host Cagliari tonight, by winning 2-0 at Livorno with goals from Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez while Udinese slowed Fiorentina’s progress with a 1-0 win.
Juventus lead after 13 games with 34 points, two more than Roma, after their fifth successive league win without conceding a goal. Napoli, beaten 1-0 at home by Parma on Saturday, are third on 28.
Inter missed the chance to join Napoli in third after being held to a one-all draw at Bologna last night.
Panagiotis Kone gave the hosts a headstart after putting them in front in the 12th minute but Jonathan equalised for Inter six minutes into the second half.
The Nerazzurri remain fourth on 26 points, two ahead of Fiorentina who were beaten by Thomas Heurtaux’s first-half goal at Udine.
The famously volatile Mihajlovic took charge of his first Sampdoria match five days after quitting his previous job with Serbia, where he had been at the helm for 18 months.
He returned to coaching in Italy almost exactly two years after leaving Fiorentina amid protests by the club’s supporters which included ethnic taunts.
On a soggy pitch, lowly Sampdoria had Nenad Krsticic sent off 18 seconds into the second half for a nasty lunge at Cristian Ledesma but Lazio, without an away win all season, failed to take advantage.
Roberto Soriano scrambled home the ball for the hosts in the 67th minute and they were on the point of celebrating only their third win of the season when Lorik Cana broke clear.
The Albanian cut inside a defender and planted his shot firmly past Angelo da Costa, denying Sampdoria a morale-boosting win.
“The lads showed how to play and how to battle with the Sampdoria shirt,” said Mihajlovic.
“We played well and aggressively, we didn’t stop attacking even with a man less and we always tried for the win.
“A lack of attention cost us dearly but we played well, gave everything and deserved the win.”
Llorente fired Juventus in front at Livorno with a superb volley in the 63rd minute and then laid off the ball for former Manchester City and United forward Tevez to rifle home 12 minutes later.
Omar El Kaddouri scored twice to give Torino a 4-1 win over struggling Catania and Sassuolo continued to climb away from trouble with a 2-0 win over Atalanta.
Serie A
Bologna 1
Kone 12;
Inter 1
Jonathan 51;
HT: 1-0. Att: 23,191.
Livorno 0
Juventus 2
Llorente 63; Tevez 75;
HT: 0-0. Att: 9,500.
Sampdoria 1
Soriano 67;
Lazio 1
Cana 90;
HT: 0-0. Att: 23,000.
Red card: Krsticic (S) 46.
Sassuolo 2
Zaza 64; Berardi 68;
Atalanta 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 12,000.
Red card: Antei (S) 76.
Torino 4
Immobile 10; El Kaddouri 34, 61; Moretti 59;
Catania 1
Leto 50;
HT: 2-0. Att: 13,856.
Udinese 1
Heurtaux 34;
Fiorentina 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 13,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 10 | 34 |
| Roma | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 3 | 32 |
| Napoli | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 12 | 28 |
| Inter | 13 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 30 | 13 | 26 |
| Fiorentina | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 15 | 24 |
| Verona | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 22 |
| Genoa | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 18 |
| Lazio | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| Atalanta | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 16 |
| Udinese | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 16 |
| Parma | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 16 |
| Torino | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 22 | 15 |
| Milan | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 20 | 14 |
| Cagliari | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 13 |
| Sassuolo | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 28 | 13 |
| Livorno | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 12 |
| Bologna | 13 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 25 | 11 |
| Sampdoria | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 10 |
| Catania | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 9 |
| Chievo | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 9 |
Playing today
Roma vs Cagliari - 20.45
Top scorers
11 goals: Rossi (Fiorentina).
8 goals: Cerci (Torino).
7 goals: Palacio (Inter), Tevez (Juventus), Berardi (Sassuolo).
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Parma vs Bologna. 20.45 Genoa vs Torino.
Sunday: 12.30 Catania vs Milan. 15.00 Atalanta vs Roma; Cagliari vs Sassuolo; Chievo vs Livorno; Inter vs Sampdoria. 20.45 Juventus vs Udinese.
Monday, Dec. 2: 19.00 Fiorentina vs Verona. 21.00 Lazio vs Napoli.
Serie B
Palermo 1 - Latina 2
Carpi 0 - Siena 1
Prima Divisione ‘A’
Como vs Reggiana 1-1; Carrarese vs SudTirol 2-1; Venezia vs Pro Vercelli 1-1; FeralpiSalo vs AlbinoLeffe 2-2; Pavia vs Cremonese 1-1; Lumezzane vs Pro Patria 1-2; Entella vs San Marino 2-0; Vicenza vs Savona 4-0.
Leading standings: Entella 27; Pro Vercelli 25; Savona, Cremonese 19; Venezia, Vicenza 17; Como 15; AlbinoLeffe 14; Lumezzane, SudTirol, FeralpiSalo 12.
Prima Divisione ‘B’
Prato vs Pisa 1-1; Benevento vs Barletta 4-2; Grosseto vs Paganese1-1; Pontedera vs L’Aquila 2-3; Gubbio vs Catanzaro 1-1; Perugia vs Ascoli 3-2; Salernitana vs Frosinone 1-0; Nocerina vs Lecce postponed.
Leading standings: L’Aquila 24; Frosinone, Pisa 23; Perugia 22; Catanzaro, Pontedera 21; Prato, Salernitana 19; Benevento 18; Lecce 15.