MILAN: Juventus secured a 3-0 home victory over Bologna on Sunday to ease some of the pressure on manager Max Allegri as Atalanta continued their dream start to the Serie A season with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina which kept them level on points with leaders Napoli.

A routine third league win of the season against dismal opposition will stave off questions about coach Allegri’s future until at least next weekend, when they travel to champions AC Milan.

The win leaves Juve seventh with 13 points (eight games), seven points behind the leading duo of Napoli and Atalanta thanks to Filip Kostic’s first goal for the club midway through the first half and two more after the break from strike pairing Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik.

Before facing Milan they host Maccabi Haifa on Wedn­esday with a win over the Israelis essential for their hopes of reaching the Champions League’s knockout rounds.

Juve midfielder Kostic fired home a diagonal drive to score the opener in the 24th minute for his first Serie A goal after being played through by team-mate Vlahovic.

Midfielder Weston McKennie had previously threatened with a header in the 13th minute from a Kostic cross but the ball went straight into the hands of Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.

Forward Arkadiusz Milik came close to extending the lead some 15 minutes before halftime as he tried to slot home an Alex Sandro cross but he was denied by Skorupski.

Vlahovic then scored with a header in the 59th following a cross by McKennie before Milik smashed the ball into the net from inside the box three minutes later.

Vlahovic could have netted again in the 67th but his strike went wide. That was followed by another effort from Milik four minutes later but his header crashed against the post.

It was a one-way end to an eventful day in which Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi made history as the first woman to referee a game in Italy’s top flight, Sassuolo’s 5-0 thumping of Salernitana.

Atalanta edged Fiorentina thanks to Ademola Lookman, who tapped in the winner from Luis Muriel’s cross in the 59th minute in Bergamo.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side trail Napoli on goal difference and are three points ahead of both third-placed Lazio — 4-0 winners over Spezia after Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored a second-half double earlier on Sunday — and Milan.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2022