MILAN: Cristiano Ronaldo converted a 96th-minute penalty as Juventus defeated Thiago Motta’s Genoa 2-1 to reclaim top spot in Serie A on Wednesday, while Napoli were left seething after conceding a disputed late equaliser against Atalanta.

Ronaldo had a goal disallowed in stoppage time but then won and converted a penalty to seal the victory against Genoa, who played nearly all of the second half with 10 men.

“We believed in it and tried right until the end,” Ronaldo said. “We created many opportunities, we wanted to win and with each passing minute the tension increased. We knew that Inter [Milan] had won yesterday and we were second and this was one an added stimulus.”

Juve, still unbeaten in all competitions under coach Maurizio Sarri, have 26 points from 10 games, one ahead of Inter who beat Brescia 2-1 on Tuesday. Atalanta remained third but slipped five points behind Juve after rallying to draw 2-2 at Napoli.

Juve were looking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-1 draw at Lecce at the weekend and Leonardo Bonucci headed them in front in the 36th.

But Christian Kouam leveled five minutes later with a bit of luck as he miskicked the ball off his other leg and it wrong-footed Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Francesco Cassata was sent off for a second yellow card five minutes after the interval but Genoa’s chances to hold on were boosted when Juve substitute Adrien Rabiot was also dismissed for two bookings three minutes from time.

Ronaldo, who had earlier missed a sitter, thought he had won the match in the fourth minute of stoppage time but the goal was disallowed for offside.

The Portugal international was given a second chance minutes later when he was tripped by Antonio Sanabria and he drove the penalty into the bottom left corner.

Atalanta twice fought back from a goal behind to hold Napoli at the San Paolo, where a fiery ending resulted in red cards for Carlo Ancelotti and his assistant.

Josip Ilicic struck a contentious 86th-minute equaliser that was upheld following a lengthy VAR review, as Napoli appealed for a penalty.

Napoli forward Fernando Llorente tumbled to the ground after jostling with Simon Kjaer in the Atalanta area before the visitors countered and scored through Ilicic.

A five-minute interruption followed before the referee awarded the goal without reviewing the incident on the touchline monitor.

“For the first time I don’t want to talk much tonight. I feel offended as a professional and I’m disappointed,” Ancelotti said. “The defender doesn’t even look at the ball and goes straight for Llorente to try and stop him from jumping. It was a clear penalty. They made a dreadful mistake.

“As far as I’m concerned, you didn’t even need VAR but it’s ridiculous that the referee didn’t go to see the replay ... I don’t want to say anything else because I wasn’t shown respect and nor was my club.”

Nikola Maksimovic had headed Napoli into the lead on 16 minutes, but Remo Freuler levelled just before half-time when his shot squirmed through goalkeeper Alex Meret.

Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik hit the post and crossbar before putting Napoli back on top on 71 minutes when he raced onto a Fabian Ruiz pass and rounded Pierluigi Gollini.

However, Ilicic levelled and nearly grabbed a winner in stoppage time for Atalanta, who stayed third but now trail leaders Juve by five points.

“From the pitch, I thought it was a penalty. Then, seeing the images, I saw a big elbow to Kjaer’s face,” Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini said of the passage of play that led to his team’s controversial equaliser. “The images are very clear. Whoever was in the VAR booth confirmed what the referee saw, but I’m rightly biased.”

Napoli remained three points behind Atalanta but fell to sixth.

AS Roma climbed above Napoli into fourth after a 4-0 rout of Udinese despite losing Federico Fazio to a red card on 31 minutes.

Nicolo Zaniolo opened the scoring before the dismissal of Fazio for a foul as the last defender. Chris Smalling doubled Roma’s lead early in the second half with a Justin Kluivert goal and Aleksandar Kolarov penalty wrapping up victory.

Lazio are a point further back after beating Torino by the same scoreline as Ciro Immobile struck twice to take his league-leading tally to 12 goals.

Cagliari extended their unbeaten run to eight games with a 3-2 win over Bologna while Fiorentina came from behind to defeat Sassuolo 2-1.

Sampdoria remain rooted to the foot of the table despite Gaston Ramirez salvaging a 1-1 draw with an injury-time equaliser at home to Lecce.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2019