Monza plunged Juventus into another crisis on Sunday after beating the Turin giants 1-0 to win their first-ever Serie A game, with Atalanta leading the pack for now after a 1-0 win over Roma. Christian Gytkjaer scored a historic goal 15 minutes before the end at the U-Power Stadium to knock Monza, owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, off the bottom of the table and end Juve’s unbeaten start to the season. Monza took the first three points of the season in their first game under Raffaele Palladino, who replaced the sacked Giovanni Stroppa on Tuesday.
They are still in the relegation zone, just one point behind 17th-seeded Verona, who lost 2-0 to Fiorentina.
“Today was incredible and unexpected,” Palladino said.
“They showed themselves to be real men… they gave everything, I shouldn’t get any credit because it was all up to them.”
The troubled Juve, who lost Angel Di Maria to a straight red card five minutes before half-time, are eighth and ten points behind Atalanta after having won just two of their first seven games.
Before the match, Juve CEO Maurizio Arrivabene said it would be “crazy” to sack Allegri, under contract until 2025 with a reported salary of eight million euros a year.
But a poor start in Italy and two defeats in their first two Champions League games have put Allegri in the firing line for supporters, criticized not only for poor results but also for the uninspiring football his team plays.
Allegri has not been helped by an injury crisis that denied him five potential starters on Sunday, and Juve’s chances on Sunday were further boosted when Di Maria – who later said the defeat was his fault – was sent off for elbowing Armando Izzo.
Juve had created little before the Argentine winger’s sacking and Monza were closest to opening the scoring after the break with Dany Mota first and then Gytkjaer clearing good chances from close range.
Patrick Ciurria had given Mota his chance and the Italian made a pass for Gytkjaer who swept the ball home, his first goal in the Italian top flight, leaving the home fans wild and Juve wondering where to go next.
Atalanta regains lead Atalanta took first place in the league after Giorgio Scalvini’s stunning low strike 10 minutes before half time at the Stadio Olimpico gave them the three points.
The 18-year-old shaved his finish off the post on a pass from fellow teenager Rasmus Hojlund, giving Atalanta their fifth win of the season with their only shot on target.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are one point ahead of Udinese, who defeated Inter Milan 3-1 in Sunday’s early game to win their fifth game on the bounce.
However, they could be joined on 17 points by champions AC Milan or Napoli, who take on the main game of the weekend in San Siro.
However, they took advantage of their luck in taking the win, with Tammy Abraham missing two golden opportunities to equalize at the end of the first half.
England international Abraham had fans wondering how on earth he failed to score five minutes before half time when, clean on goal, he shot or grabbed the ball around Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello and just ran the ball off the pitch.
Abraham then played a neat one-two with Nemanja Matic before seeing his effort pushed off close by Sportiello.
Roma was furious 10 minutes after the break when referee Daniele Chiffi failed to give the hosts a penalty for Caleb Okoli who jerked Nicolo Zaniolo’s shorts so that his underwear showed.
Jose Mourinho had to be stopped by his coaching staff and was sent off by Chiffi, meaning he will miss Roma’s trip to his former club Inter after the international break.
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Eldor Shomurodov headed wide after Zaniolo’s sensational play with three minutes to go, and when the Uzbekistan captain shortly afterwards dragged a low shot wide, Atalanta was assured of the points.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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