TURIN: Leonardo Bonucci scored a stoppage-time equaliser as Juventus fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at home with Salernitana but Massimiliano Allegri’s side were denied a late winner by VAR in a chaotic end to their Serie A clash on Sunday, while Atalanta were held to a 1-1 draw by Cremonese.

Juventus, who recorded their fourth draw in six Serie A games this season, thought they had snatched all three points when substitute Arkadiusz Milik headed home in the 94th minute but the goal was disallowed following a VAR review for offside.

Milik was sent off for a second yellow card after taking his shirt off in a premature celebration, along with team-mate Juan Cuadrado and Salernitana’s Federico Fazio who were involved in a confrontation as tempers flared between the teams in a prolonged melee.

The draw left Juventus eighth in the table on 10 points, level, with Salerni­tana three points behind in 10th.

The visitors took the lead in the 18th minute when Pasquale Mazzocchi’s cross from the edge of the six-yard box found midfielder Antonio Candreva who converted with his body from close range.

Striker Krzysztof Piatek made it 2-0 to Salernitana with a coolly-taken spot-kick just before halftime, sending keeper Mattia Perin the wrong way after the visitors were awarded a penalty when Gleison Bremer blocked Piatek’s strike with his hand.

Juventus sprung to life when Bremer scored in the 51st minute with a fantastic header and the home side then dominated possession and pressed high up the field and were awarded a penalty for a foul by Tonny Vilhena on defender Alex Sandro.

Bonucci failed to beat goalkeeper Luigi Sepe with his effort from the spot but fired home on the rebound.

Juve were not done there, however, and thought they had won it when Milik rose at the near post from a corner to glance his effort in before celebrating wildly.

Referee Matteo Marcenaro, however, was sent across to the VAR screen following a lengthy stoppage and the goal was ruled out as Bonucci was shown to be offside in front of the keeper when Milik made contact with the ball.

Atalanta had been out on their own as leaders of Italy’s top flight for the first time in over 60 years heading into the weekend’s fixtures but Emanuele Valeri’s 78th-minute leveller earned Cremonese a point in Bergamo to leave Gian Piero Gasperini’s side second.

Atalanta, who opened the scoring through Merih Demiral four minutes before Valeri’s strike, are level on 14 points with leaders Napoli and reigning champions AC Milan, both winners on Saturday. Promoted Cremonese stay in the bottom three on two points.

Lazio are three points behind the leading trio after a 2-0 home win over Verona which came thanks to Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto.

Bologna won their first match without Sinisa Mihajlovic as coach with Marko Arnautovic netting his sixth of the season in a 2-1 win over Fiorentina.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2022