Juventus missed the chance to move top of Serie A on Saturday after a 1-1 draw with Atalanta in Turin left them a point behind league leaders and reigning champions Napoli.
Juan Cabal bundled in his first goal in Italy’s top flight with 12 minutes remaining, shortly after replacing injured Gleison Bremer, to preserve Juve’s unbeaten start to the campaign.
“My glass is half full because in my opinion we played really well, the first half was one of the best since I’ve been here,” said Igor Tudor, who takes his team to Villarreal on Wednesday.
“It was a tough match between two teams in the Champions League, and the draw was a fair result.”
Atalanta, who host Club Brugge on Tuesday, had looked good for a win at the Allianz Stadium as Ivan Juric’s team played well after Kamaldeen Sulemana lashed in his second goal in as many games in first half stoppage time.
But Odilon Kossounou made a hash of a Joao Mario cross, allowing Cabal to level the scores against Atalanta, who played the final 10 minutes with 10 men following Marten de Roon’s sending off.
Weston McKennie missed a golden opportunity to snatch the three points in the dying seconds when he shot straight at Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi from point-blank range.
That miss allowed Atalanta to escape with a draw and go fifth, level on nine points with four other clubs including AC Milan, who host Napoli on Sunday.
Napoli lead the pack with a perfect 12 points from their first four matches of the league campaign.
Inter in the hunt
Among the quintet on nine points are Inter Milan who beat Cagliari 1-0 thanks to an early header from Lautaro Martinez and Pio Esposito’s first Serie A goal eight minutes from time.
Martinez’s second goal of the season was the 12th of his career against Cagliari and 117th in Serie A, taking him above Inter icon Sandro Mazzola.
It helped move Inter up to sixth ahead of their Champions League fixture against Slavia Prague on Tuesday.
Cristian Chivu’s team deserved in the win but survived a scare in the 73rd minute when Michael Folorunsho thumped a header against the post.
Inter youth product Esposito sealed the points when the 20-year-old met Federico Dimarco’s drilled cross with a smart low finish and opened his account in the top flight.
“He’s a smart boy. He works hard, listens and does a lot for the team. He’s showing what he’s worth even at his young age,” said Martinez.
“He still needs to develop but he’ll definitely be a help for us this season.”
Promoted Cremonese are, like Juve, Atalanta and Napoli, unbeaten after drawing 1-1 at Lombardy rivals Como in the weekend’s first match.
Federico Baschirotto gave Cremonese a point at the lakeside Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia after Nico Paz put the hosts ahead with his third goal of the season.
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