915 days, aka two years and a half since May 14, 2006: that’s how long Juventus had to wait to breathe top-ranking air in the Serie A again. Granted, it’s an ex-aequo lead for now, and too bad if those sharing 1st place with the Bianconeri are eternal rivals Inter Milan (set to clash at San Siro on November 22). This, and Juve’s seventh consecutive win (the fifth in Serie A) must sure feel good for Claudio Ranieri, who not even one month ago was seriously linked with the backside of the president’s boot.
On Thursday (for Serie A’s early matchday 12 encounter) Juve’s victims were Genoa, beaten with a (perhaps too) severe score of 4-1, goals courtesy of Grygera, Amauri, Iaquinta, and an own goal by Papastathopoulos. Genoa played well in the first half despite ending 2-0 down, but their wastefulness in front of Alex Manninger’s goal cost them dearly: after the break the Rossoblu lost whatever grip they had, worn down by the combativeness of an omnipresent Giorgio Chiellini and the talent of the ever-present Alessandro Del Piero (who may have not put his name on the scorers, but was capital in pulling the strings of well-directed passes for his teammates). Diego Milito saved face for the visitors, thanks to a penalty shot after a Legrottaglie handball.
.jpg)
