European football round-up: Palermo sack coach after just three matches

Giuseppe Sannino became the first coaching casualty of the Serie A season yesterday after being sacked by Palermo - just three games into the season. Palermo have yet to win in their opening matches, with two defeats being followed by Saturday's draw with Cagliari. The club said in a statement that Sannino, who only joined Palermo in the summer from Siena, would be replaced by Gian Piero Gasperini. Gasperino made his name in Italian football coaching Genoa from 2006-2010. He then moved on to Inter Milan for 2011, before being sacked after three months in charge. Meanwhile Juventus came from behind to extend their perfect start to the season with a comfortable 3-1 win at Genoa . Ciro Immobile put Genoa in front in the 18th minute, before Emanuele Giaccherini brought the visitors level after an hour. While Mirko Vucinic and Kwadwo Asamoah added a second and a third to make it three wins out of three for Juve. Napoli also claimed a 3-1 win to maintain their 100% start against Parma . Walter Mazzarri's men were in control from the moment Edison Cavani netted a third-minute penalty and, with Goran Pandev and Lorenzo Insigne also on target, Marco Parolo's strike was rendered worthless. Lazio are third after a 3-1 win over Chievo at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi. Hernanes was the star of the show, scoring twice in either half, while he also set up Miroslav Klose for his strike for Vladimir Petkovic's side. Sergio Pellissier netted a late penalty for the hosts. Sampdoria also boast three wins from three after a 3-2 triumph at Pescara . Maxi Lopez gave Samp the lead, which was doubled by Marcelo Estigarribia in the second period. Mervan Celik pulled a goal back for the hosts with 15 minutes left before Lopez netted again. Gianluca Caprari scored a late consolation. Bologna came from two goals down to claim their first points of the season with a 3-2 victory over shellshocked Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. The Giallorossi looked to be cruising when Alessandro Florenzi and Erik Lamella struck in the first 15 minutes, but two goals in as many second-half minutes from Alberto Gilardino and Alessandro Diamanti brought Bologna back on level terms. And there was one final twist in the dying seconds when Gilardino grabbed his second of the match after an embarrassing mix-up in the Roma defence. Goals in each half from Steven Jovetic and Luca Toni handed Fiorentina all three points with a 2-0 win against Catania at the Stadio Artemi Franchi. Udinese were two goals in front after just five minutes but were held to a 2-2 draw by Siena , who hit back with a pair of second-half strikes following Andrea Lazzari's red card. Diego Milito and Antonio Cassano handed Inter Milan their second away win of the season thanks to a 2-0 victory at Torino . Atletico Madrid almost threw away a four-goal lead against Rayo Vallecano but held on to edge a thrilling encounter 4-3. Mario Suarez gave the home side the lead after 29 minutes before Koke, Arda Turan and Falcao, from the penalty spot, all scored between the 49th and 56th minute. An apparent lost cause was nearly salvaged when Andrija Delibasic (82, 85) scored a brace off the bench and Leo took advantage of slack defending in the closing moments, but Atletico held on. Real Mallorca kept their unbeaten start to the season going with a 1-1 draw away at Osasuna . Both sides were reduced to 10 men as Jose Nunes and Joseba Llorente were sent off following a 35th-minute clash before Kike Sola headed Osasuna ahead with 20 minutes to go. Tomer Hemed responded with his fourth goal of the campaign eight minutes later. Second-half efforts from Inigo Martinez and Carlos Vela handed Real Sociedad a 2-0 victory against a disappointing Real Zaragoza side at Anoeta. Martinez headed home in the 55th minute to break the deadlock and within six minutes the hosts had a second via Vela's penalty. Fernando Llorente scored on his return to action as Athletic Bilbao twice came from behind to claim a 3-3 draw point against Espanyol . Javi Lopez and Joan Verdu put Espanyol two up before Llorente and Aritz Aduriz levelled matters. Samuele Longo scored 10 minutes from time to put the hosts back ahead only for Aduriz to grab his second in reply. Granada 's winless start to the season continued as Floro Flores' goal 10 minutes from time could only salvage a point against Deportivo La Coruna . Nelson Oliveira struck just before half-time to break the deadlock. Marseille maintained their 100% record to remain top of Ligue 1, but only after a narrow victory at Nancy . OM scraped a 1-0 success at Stade Marcel-Picot to make it five wins from five for the title hopefuls. Jordan Ayew was the match-winner, finding the target after 57 minutes. Lyon remain two points off the pace in second, courtesy of a routine 2-0 win over Ajaccio at Stade Gerland. Dejan Lovren (25) and Lisandro Lopez (74) scored the goals as Les Gones enjoyed their fourth win of the season. Lorient preserved their unbeaten start to the Ligue 1 season with a 2-1 victory at Rennes in a controversial affair which saw three players sent off. Two goals from Alain Traore put the visitors in the driving seat but that was tempered by red cards for Maxine Baca and goalkeeper Fabien Audard. Rennes replied through Jonathan Pitroipa but they also finished the match a man less with Cheick Diarra given his marching orders. Eintracht Frankfurt made it three wins out of three and spoiled Rafael van der Vaart's second Hamburg debut as the newcomers won 3-2 tonight. Armin Veh's men signalled their intentions with two goals inside five first-half minutes from Takashi Inui and Olivier Occean. Hamburg pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time through Heiko Westermann, but they also lost Petr Jiracek to a red card before the interval. Aigner gave Frankfurt a two-goal cushion to sit on in the 52nd minute, but Heung Min Son made a game of it by scoring a second for Hamburg in the 63rd minute, setting up a tense finale in which Frankfurt held on to join Bayern Munich in a share of top spot. There was more drama in the day's other game as Freiburg got the better of Hoffenheim 5-3 at the Dreisamstadion with the pressure increasing on the visitors' coach Markus Babbel. The game started well for Hoffenheim with Matthieu Delpierre putting them ahead in the second minute, but Karim Guede and Max Kruse turned the game around before half-time. Boris Vukcevic brought Hoffenheim level in the 57th minute before Fallou Diagne headed Freiburg ahead for the second time. Hoffenheim refused to lie down and they equalised again through Takashi Usami in the 76th minute, but Cedric Makiadi and Sebastian Freis ensured Christian Streich's side were ultimately rewarded with all three points. Vitesse Arnhem overcame the first-half dismissal of Jan-Arie van der Heijden to beat FC Groningen 3-0 and climb to second in the Eredivisie. Referee Bas Nijhuis showing the defender a straight red card on the half-hour mark for a seemingly innocuous push on Mitchell Schet. However, Vitesse came out fighting after the interval and were in front in the 63rd minute when Mike Havenaar headed home Patrick van Aanholt's cross. Tomas Kalas then added another three minutes from time with Havenaar teeing up the defender, and Wilfried Bony had the final say in stoppage time with his finish to another perfect ball from Van Aanholt. The win leaves unbeaten Vitesse two points behind leaders FC Twente having won four of their opening five fixtures. FC Utrecht also defied the odds as they overcame red cards for Anouar Kali and Alexander Gerndt to snatch an unlikely 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven . It was a poor day at the office for Dick Advocaat's side, who were fortunate not to be trailing after 25 minutes when a header from Mike van der Hoorn came back off the post. Their luck appeared to have changed when Kali was shown a second yellow card for Utrecht after 70 minutes, but the hosts responded to the challenge with the opening goal two minutes later from a Dave Bulthuis free-kick. Another red card followed for Gerndt 10 minutes from time for a clumsy challenge on Mark van Bommel but the fight had already gone out of PSV. Jozy Altidore scored a hat-trick and set up team-mate Erik Falkenburg for his goal as AZ Alkmaar thrashed Roda JC 4-0, while Heracles Almelo enjoyed their first win of the campaign with a 2-1 result over NAC Breda courtesy of Everton's stoppage-time strike. sports@thenational.ae Follow us

European football round-up: Palermo sack coach after just three matches

Atletico Madrid almost throw away a four-goal lead against Ray Vallecano in the Primera Liga, while Giuseppe Sannino pays the price for Palermo's poor start to the season.