Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday
became the first Juventus player to score in 10 successive Serie A games
but the champions fell 2-1 at Hellas Verona to leave an opening to
their title rivals.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is closing in
on the all-time Serie A record of scoring in 11 consecutive games held
by Gabriel Batistuta and Fabio Quagliarella.
But Juventus paid for defensive
errors with Fabio Borini pulling Verona level with quarter of an hour to
go before veteran striker Giampaolo Pazzini won the match for the
promoted side from the penalty spot four minutes from time after a
Leonardo Bonucci handball.
Juventus are three points ahead of Inter
Milan, who have a chance to pull level when they take on Zlatan
Ibrahimovic's AC Milan in Sunday's derby clash at the San Siro.
The defeat was the third this season for Maurizio
Sarri's side but second in three games after losing 2-1 at Napoli just
two weeks ago.
Verona meanwhile are up to sixth after
extending their unbeaten run to eight games days after earning a
creditable goalless draw at Lazio, who can pull to within a point of
Juve with a win at Parma on Sunday.
Borini levelled for the hosts when he pounced
on a wayward Miralem Pjanic pass after 76 minutes, and the champions
then paid the price for Bonucci raised arm deflecting Marash Kambulla
header in the box.
Atalanta consolidate fourth place
Earlier Atalanta consolidated fourth
place with a 2-1 win at Fiorentina that ended the Bergamo side's 27-year
away winless run against the Tuscan club.
Federico Chiesa's scorcher just after half an
hour gave mid-table Fiorentina hope of another win over Atalanta, whom
they eliminated from the Italian Cup at their Stadio Artemio Franchi
last month.
But Duvan Zapata tapped in four minutes after
the break to level the scores before Ruslan Malinovsky came off the
bench to seal victory with 18 minutes left, giving Atalanta their first
win away at the 'Viola' since 1993.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side pull three points
clear of fifth-placed Roma in the race for the Champions League
following the capital club's 3-2 home defeat to Bologna on Friday, but
are still eight points behind Lazio.
"These are three very important, key points.
We haven't won here for 27 years, and we were up a against an in-form
team," said Gasperini.
Atalanta host Roma next weekend before they
play at home against Valencia in the Champions League last-16, having
qualified for the competition for the first time this season.
"We have to exploit Roma's difficulties and our home advantage in the next match," added Zapata.
"If we do well against the 'Giallorossi' it will set us up for the Champions League match against Valencia."
Moreno Longo started his reign as Torino coach
with a 3-1 home defeat to Sampdoria, with the struggling Genoa club's
goals coming in a nine-minute second-half spell.
Torino, in 12th, have now lost four games in a
row, conceding 16 goals, and could fall further off the Europa League
pace by the end of the weekend.
Claudio Ranieri's Sampdoria are now 16th, seven points clear of the relegation zone.
ea/td
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