Roma captain Francesco Totti tries to run clear of Lazio’s Andre Dias during the derby.Roma captain Francesco Totti tries to run clear of Lazio’s Andre Dias during the derby.

Carlos Tevez scored two early goals for Juventus before the Serie A leaders squandered the lead in a 2-2 draw at Verona yesterday.

Luca Toni pulled one back and Tevez’s fellow Argentine Juanito Gomez grabbed an equaliser for Verona in the fourth minute of stoppage time after coming on as a late substitute.

Juventus, who failed to win for only the fourth time in 23 Serie A games this season, stayed nine points clear of Roma, who were held to a goalless draw by neighbours Lazio.

Gervinho had a goal disallowed for Roma while Stefano Mauri came on at half-time for Lazio, his first match since completing a six-month ban for failing to report match-fixing in 2011.

Otherwise, there was little excitement in a disappointing derby with a surprising number of empty seats blighting the Stadio Olimpico.

Juventus, well on course to win a third successive scudetto, have 60 points, nine clear of Roma who are in their first season under French coach Rudi Garcia. Napoli, 3-1 winners over Milan on Saturday, are third with 47.

Tevez, whose performances have failed to impress Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella and who appears set to miss the World Cup, put Juventus in front in the fifth minute when he side-footed home from a rebound after Kwadwo Asamoah’s shot was parried.

Juventus looked set to stroll home when Tevez calmly turned in Paul Pogba’s incisive pass from a similar position inside the penalty area in the 21st minute, his 13th league goal of the season and one behind top scorer Giuseppe Rossi.

But promoted Verona had other ideas as Toni headed one back early in the second half, then saw a close-range effort brilliantly stopped by Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

In between, Juventus brought on Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, on loan from Southampton, for his debut and he made an immediate impact, hitting the post and having a goal disallowed.

Verona, who had two penalty appeals turned down, finally got a deserved equaliser when Gomez got in front of the Juventus defence to head in after a quickly-taken free-kick.

Genoa and Sampdoria both scored early in 1-0 wins as they moved further away from the relegation zone.

Tenth-placed Genoa (30 points) moved above Milan when Luca Antonelli’s early goal sank next-to-bottom Livorno.

Daniele Gastaldello’s 11th-minute header was enough for former Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Sampdoria to overcome Cagliari, taking them up to 12th.

In the late game, Inter ended a run of five matches without a win after beating relegation strugglers Sassuolo 1-0 at San Siro.

Argentine defender Walter Samuel marked his return from injury by heading the winning goal three minutes into the second half.

Brazilian midfielder Hernanes made his Inter debut and Fredy Guarin his first appearance since his transfer to Juventus fell through in January.

Inter 1
Samuel 48;
Sassuolo 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 34,528.

Lazio 0
Roma 0

Att: 32,000.

Livorno 0
Genoa 1
Antonelli 10;

HT: 0-1. Att: 10,000.

Parma 0
Catania 0

Att: 12,000.

Sampdoria 1
Gastaldello 11;
Cagliari 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 22,000.

Torino 1
Immobile 5;
Bologna 2
Cristaldo 11, 24.

HT: 1-2. Att: 17,000.

Verona 2
Toni 52; Gomez 90;
Juventus 2
Tevez 5, 21;

HT: 0-2. Att: 20,000.

Standings

  P W D L F A Pts
Juventus 23 19 3 1 56 18 60
Roma 22 15 6 1 45 11 51
Napoli 23 14 5 4 47 27 47
Fiorentina 23 13 5 5 42 24 44
Verona 23 11 3 9 39 37 36
Inter 23 9 9 5 40 27 36
Parma 22 8 9 5 32 27 33
Torino 23 8 9 6 36 30 33
Lazio 23 8 8 7 29 29 32
Genoa 23 8 6 9 24 28 30
Milan 23 7 8 8 36 35 29
Sampdoria 23 7 7 9 27 32 28
Atalanta 23 8 3 12 24 32 27
Udinese 23 8 2 13 25 32 26
Cagliari 23 5 9 9 21 32 24
Bologna 23 4 9 10 22 39 21
Chievo 23 4 6 13 16 32 18
Livorno 23 4 5 14 22 41 17
Sassuolo 23 4 5 14 23 49 17
Catania 23 3 7 13 16 40 16

Top scorers
14 goals: Rossi (Fiorentina).
13 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
12 goals: Higuain (Napoli), Berardi (Sassuolo), Immobile (Torino).
11 goals: Vidal (Juventus), Toni (Verona).
10 goals: Palacio (Inter), Cerci (Torino).

Next fixtures
Friday: 20.45 Milan vs Bologna.
Saturday: 20.45 Fiorentina vs Inter.
Sunday: 12.30 Catania vs Lazio. 15.00 Atalanta vs Parma; Cagliari vs Livorno; Genoa vs Udinese; Juventus vs Chievo; Sassuolo vs Napoli. 20.45 Roma vs Sampdoria.
Monday, Feb. 17: 20.45 Verona vs Torino.

Prima Divisione ‘A’
Como vs Cremonese 3-3; Pavia vs Carrarese 1-1; SudTirol vs Venezia 1-4; San Marino vs Lumezzane 0-1; Savona vs Pro Vercelli 1-1; Reggiana vs Pro Patria 0-1; Albinoleffe vs Entella 3-1.

Leading standings: Entella 41; Pro Vercelli 38; Cremonese 34; Venezia 33; Como, Vicenza 32; Savona 31; SudTirol, Albinoleffe 30.

Prima Divisione ‘B’
L’Aquila vs Salernitana 1-1; Pontedera vs Pisa 2-2; Paganese vs Frosinone 1-2; Barletta vs Lecce 1-2; Ascoli vs Grosseto 0-1; Perugia vs Prato 0-0; Gubbio vs Viareggio 2-0.

Leading standings: Frosinone, Perugia 45; Lecce 37; L’Aquila 36; Benevento 34; Pisa 33; Catanzaro 32; Pontedera 30.

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