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Rediff.com  » Sports » Football Briefs: Dybala brace helps Juve down Torino; PSG draw

Football Briefs: Dybala brace helps Juve down Torino; PSG draw

September 24, 2017 14:00 IST
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Juventus’ Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring their first goal with Blaise Matuidi during their Serie A match on Saturday

IMAGE: Juventus’ Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring their first goal with Blaise Matuidi during their Serie A match on Saturday. Photograph: Massimo Pinca/Reuters

Paulo Dybala scored two goals, taking his tally to 10 in six league games, to lead Juventus to a 4-0 win over self-destructing neighbours Torino and maintain their perfect start in Serie A on Saturday.

Napoli also notched up their sixth straight win, beating SPAL 3-2 after Faouzi Ghoulam's late goal saw off a brave challenge from their promoted opponents.

 

Napoli, last season's top scorers, have hit 22 goals already and lead champions Juve on goal difference with both sides on a maximum 18 points.

Juventus had little trouble in dispatching Torino in the Derby della Mole as their opponents gifted them the opening goal and had a player sent off before the half hour.

Torino defender Lyanco set the tone in the fourth minute when he sent a misplaced back pass towards his own goal and was saved only by goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu's desperate sliding clearance.

The visitors were in more trouble in the 16th minute when midfielder Tomas Rincon was dispossessed by Miralem Pjanic who slipped the ball to Dybala for the Argentine to fire Juve into the lead.

It got even worse for Torino when Daniele Baselli, having already been booked, flew wildly at Pjanic with his knees raised and was dismissed with only 25 minutes gone.

The game effectively ended as a contest when Pjanic swept in Juan Cuadrado's pass five minutes before halftime.

Alex Sandro headed the third from Pjanic's corner in the 57th minute and Torino kept the score down only thanks to a string of outstanding saves from Sirigu.

He was eventually beaten for a fourth time when Dybala got clear of the Torino defence in stoppage time to dink the ball over the 30-year-old.

Napoli had to come from behind on their way to a club-record eleventh consecutive league win.

Pasquale Schiattarella gave SPAL a shock lead in the 13th minute but Lorenzo Insigne equalised one minute later.

Jose Callejon headed Napoli in front in the 71st minute only for SPAL to hit back seven minutes later when Federico Viviani curled in a free kick.

Napoli refused to give up and Ghoulam settled matters with a fine solo effort, the Algerian running at the SPAL defence and cutting inside to finish with his right foot.

Two goals from Stephan El Shaarawy helped fourth-placed AS Roma to a comfortable 3-1 win at home to Udinese after Edin Dzeko had opened the scoring for last season's runners-up.

Diego Perotti missed a penalty for Roma before Jens Stryger Larsen scored a last-minute consolation for Udinese.

PSG drop points at Montpellier

Paris St Germain felt Neymar's absence as they dropped their first points in Ligue 1 this season in a disappointing 0-0 draw at Montpellier on Saturday.

Montpellier managed to grab a point after a spirited display against a star-studded side who had won their previous six league games.

Brazilian Neymar, who got into an argument with Edinson Cavani over who would take a penalty in last week's 2-0 win over Lyon, missed the game due to a minor foot injury.

PSG's expensively-assembled squad had plenty of possession but they had to contend with a patchy, bumpy pitch and a compact Montpellier side that looked dangerous on the break.

Julian Draxler stood in for Neymar but the German produced very few opportunities for Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, who was twice denied by Benjamin Lecomte.

Cavani had PSG's best chance of the first half but the Uruguayan missed the ball completely as he attempted to meet a low cross in the box.

With Mbappe one of the few PSG players to impress, Cavani managed to miss the ball again in second-half injury time as he desperately tried to get a shot off under pressure from 40-year-old Brazilian defender Hilton.

Montpellier's less-heralded squad maintained their defensive discipline to claim a point that leaves them 12th in the table on eight points, with PSG still top with 19 points, one ahead of Monaco.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery said he expects Neymar to return from injury for Tuesday's Champions League match against Bayern Munich, after his side struggled to a 0-0 draw at Montpellier in the Brazilian's absence.

According to AFP, Neymar missed the game after suffering a right foot injury, and PSG duly saw their perfect start to the Ligue 1 season come to an end in their first match without the 25-year-old since his world record move from Barcelona.

"We will wait until tomorrow (Sunday) to see about his return," Emery said.

"There are three days left to prepare for the match, but I think that if everything goes normally he will be back."

The capital-city side have seen their early lead at the top of the table cut to one point this weekend after reigning champions Monaco thumped Lille on Friday.

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Source: REUTERS
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