Juventus back to winning ways, Milan thrashed by Napoli

ROME (Reuters) – Serie A champions Juventus picked up only their second win of the league season after coming from behind to beat Bologna 3-1 at home on Sunday.

Juve fell behind early but responded emphatically through Alvaro Morata and new signings Paulo Dybala and Sami Khedira to move up to 12th in the table. It was Germany midfielder Khedira’s first goal for the club.

AC Milan slumped to their fourth loss of the campaign as they crashed to a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Napoli.

Fiorentina remain at the top of the table after beating Atalanta 3-0 at home, with the visitors barely in the contest after losing Gabriel Paletta to a fifth-minute red card in a possible case of mistaken identity.

Second-placed Inter Milan, who were defeated by Fiorentina last weekend, lost further ground on the early leaders after a 1-1 draw at Sampdoria, while Lazio overcame Frosinone 2-0 thanks to late goals from Keita and Filip Djordjevic.

AS Roma saw off a late rally from Palermo to win 4-2 away, Empoli beat Sassuolo 1-0 thanks to an 88th-minute goal from Massimo Maccarone and Udinese played out a 1-1 draw with Genoa.

Juve built on their midweek Champions League victory over Sevilla with a hard-fought triumph over Bologna in Turin, despite falling behind to a fifth-minute volley from Anthony Mounier.

Juve equalised on 33 minutes when Khedira set up Morata, who headed past Antonio Mirante.

A Dybala penalty gave Juve the lead on 52 minutes, beforeKhedira, who was making his Serie A debut, continued his decent start to life with the Italian champions when he headed home a Morata cross on 63 minutes.

The injury-prone Germany international brought stability to the midfield against Sevilla and demonstrated his composure and class once again.

“Sami’s an important figure for us. He gives us international experience and he hasn’t regressed in these past six months,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri told a news conference. “He’s a generous guy and a great pro.”

Milan’s miserable start to the season continued as they were outclassed by Napoli in front of their own aghast fans, the first time they have lost by such a scoreline at the San Siro since 2009.

Napoli opened the scoring on 13 minutes when Marek Hamsik picked up Cristian Zapata’s wayward clearance and played in Lorenzo Insigne, who set up the advancing Allan to finish powerfully past Diego Lopez.

Insigne doubled the lead on 48 minutes, playing a one-two with Gonzalo Higuain before sending a curling right-footed effort past Lopez.

The contest was settled on 67 minutes when Insigne scored his fifth goal of the campaign with a long-range freekick.

There was still time for further humiliation for Milan when the hapless Rodrigo Ely, stretching to meet a Faouzi Ghoulam cross, diverted the ball past Lopez.

Fiorentina extended their lead at the top to two points as they dispatched Atalanta at the Artemio Franchi.

Paulo Sousa’s side took control of the match in the sixth minute when Josip Ilicic converted a penalty after Jakub Blaszczykowski was brought down.

While the referee sent off Paletta, replays showed that the foul had been committed by striker Alejandro Gomez.

Fiorentina doubled their lead on 34 minutes when Borja Valera finished past Marco Sportiello, before substitute Joan Verdu added a third in the final minute.

(Reporting by Ed Dove, editing by Mark Meadows; mark.meadows@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters Messaging:; mark.meadows.reuters.com@reuters.net)