Roma vs Juventus. Italian Serie A.
OlimpicoAttendance56,040.
Roma 2-1 Juventus: Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko sink nine-man Juve
Sunday 30 August 2015 21:24, UK
Juventus had two men sent off as their dismal start to the Serie A season continued at Roma.
The champions, who lost their opening match at home to Udinese last week, went down 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico and had Rubinho and Patrice Evra sent off in the final quarter.
Miralem Pjanic opened the scoring for Roma with an impressive free-kick just past the hour mark and, after their opponents had seen back-up goalkeeper Rubinho dismissed from the bench for dissent - and Evra follow to leave them down to 10 men, Edin Dzeko headed home with 11 minutes remaining to double the advantage.
Paulo Dybala pulled a goal back in the 88th minute and the visitors launched a belated battle for an unlikely point. However, it did not come and Juve, who won the league by 17 points last season, find themselves without a point from their first two games of this campaign.
Juve coach Massimilano Allegri left new signings Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro on the bench, with Dybala and Mario Mandzukic starting in attack.
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The two played together for the first time since joining Juve this summer.
Roma started well. In the opening minute, the Giallorossi appealed for a penalty after Alessandro Florenzi fell in the box following contact from Mandzukic but the referee waved play on.
Keita and Lago Falque then saw their attempts go wide.
Pjanic wasted a good chance for the hosts in the 17th minute when he got behind Giorgio Chiellini's clearance but his right-footed volley from the edge of the area was off target.
Roma kept up the pressure and were unlucky not to break the deadlock in the 24th minute.
Chelsea's on-loan winger Mohamed Salah set up Pjanic just outside the area but his right-footed shot, though it beat Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, struck the left post.
Juve struggled to put a good move together and in the 39th minute, Pjanic's central free-kick was saved by Buffon in the last chance of the opening half.
Early in the second half, Martin Caceres tried his luck from outside the area but his effort flew high and wide.
In the 57th minute, Pjanic could have made it 1-0 for Roma when he got behind Edin Dzeko's pass but his left-footed shot from the heart of the area lacked pace and was saved by Buffon.
Buffon was called again three minutes later to clear Dzeko's shot towards the near post.
Roma's efforts were then rewarded.
Buffon could do nothing to stop Pjanic's right-footed free-kick from sailing into the top left corner of goal.
In the 66th minute, Juve had their third-choice goalkeeper Rubinho sent off from the bench for dissent.
Roma kept up the pressure and in the 71st minute, Radja Nainggolan warmed the hands of Buffon with a stinging drive from 30 yards.
Three minutes later and Dzeko's close-range attempt was blocked by Chiellini.
Juve suffered a huge setback when Evra was handed his marching orders after a late challenge on Juan Manuel Iturbe.
Roma doubled their lead seconds later when Dzeko got past his Chiellini to nod the ball past a helpless Buffon.
Juve pulled one back when substitute Roberto Pereyra set up Dybala in the box and his diagonal shot beat Szczesny.
Seconds from time Leonardo Bonucci's header from Dybala's cross forced Szczesny into a full-stretch save as the hosts held on for a deserved three points.