Leaders Juventus saw their 13-game winning streak come to an end in a 1-1 draw away to rock-bottom Sassuolo on Saturday as title rivals AS Roma closed to within one point of the Serie A lead.
Francesco Totti inspired Roma to a 3-0 win over Chievo earlier in the day to give Rudi Garcia’s side a boost ahead of a more formidable challenge against Champions League Group E rivals Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Juventus were largely expected to account for Sassuolo but after Paul Pogba levelled Simone Zaza’s 13th minute strike six minutes later Massimiliano Allegri’s visitors struggled to find a way through a determined home defence.
Juve remain top of the pile but four days ahead of visiting Champions League Group A rivals Olympiakos, the Italian champions have dropped their first points of the season.
“Technically, we didn’t play well and we just couldn’t find the goal as we usually do,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“But we accept the draw. Now we have to go and look at what didn’t work tonight.”
Chievo had scored just once on six previous visits to the Stadio Olimpico and barely mustered a shot on goal all night as Roma, who dropped their first points of the season two weeks ago in a bad-tempered 3-2 loss away to Juventus, went about their business with consummate ease.
Chievo defender Dario Danielli, who gave away the foul that led to Totti’s first-half spot-kick, compared his opponents to the group that Totti inspired to the scudetto in 2001.
“Conceding a goal against such a quality side messes up all your plans,” Danielli told Sky.
“It’s one of the best Roma sides I’ve come up against. Only the one that won the title in 2001, in my opinion, was better.”
Garcia – who rested Ivorian striker Gervinho with a view to Tuesday’s clash – admitted facing Bayern would be an altogether different affair.
“Bayern are ready ... but we’re counting on a red hot atmosphere at the Olimpico. We can’t wait, it will be a fantastic game.”
Roma took the lead after only four minutes when Mattia Destro dived to head Miralem Pjanic’s corner past Francesco Bardi and Adem Ljajic doubled the hosts’ lead in fine style on 26 minutes after some good work by Totti.
The 38-year-old collected a throw-in in midfield, turned and delivered a pinpoint pass for Ljajic to cut inside and beat his marker before beating Bardi with a fine strike inside the keeper’s far post.
Roma wrapped up the points in the 32nd minute when Totti slammed a spot-kick past Bardi after Daniele De Rossi had been hauled down on the edge of the six-yard box by Dainelli as the pair tangled at a corner.
Totti came close to grabbing his second minutes later when he collected just outside the area, cut inside and curled a drive just past the far post with Bardi at full stretch.
Allegri must have feared the visit to Sassuolo having been sacked by AC Milan last January after defeat to the minnows from Reggio-Emilio.
After just 13 minutes, Juventus were trailing when Zaza beat Gianluigi Buffon with a first-time strike from the edge of the box after Leonardo Bonucci had cleared the Italy striker’s shot off the goalline moments earlier.
Pogba was sublime throughout and levelled six minutes later when he curled Carlos Tevez’s delivery past keeper Andrea Consigli and into the top corner for his first goal of the campaign.
Juventus went on to dominate at the Mapei Stadium, but were frustrated at every turn.
The champions spurned a series of great chances from Angelo Ogbonna, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Pogba and Tevez although Consigli was a rock in the Sassuolo goal.
Fernando Llorente was replaced by Kingsley Coman just after the hour and Andrea Pirlo came off in favour of Sebastian Giovinco with seven minutes remaining, but Juve’s clear domination failed to produce the winning goal.
Juve’s frustration boiled over when Simone Padoin was sent off from the bench for dissent.
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Autumn international scores
Saturday, November 24
Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
