Football
ESPN staff 8y

Juventus maintain Serie A lead with defeat of Palermo; Napoli back on track

Juventus needed an unfortunate Edoardo Goldaniga own goal to squeeze past Palermo 1-0 and preserve their Serie A lead.

The reigning champions replaced Napoli as the early season leaders with a 4-0 midweek thrashing of Cagliari but found Palermo goalkeeper Josip Posavec a largely immovable object at La Favorita.

Centre-back Goldaniga tried to do the under-siege stopper a favour in the 49th minute, yet Dani Alves' attempt ending up in the back of the net as a result of his intervention.

Massimiliano Allegri's men reach the 15-point mark after six games while Palermo are down in 16th.

Marek Hamsik scored his 100th goal for Napoli as the Serie A title challengers beat Chievo 2-0.

After Manolo Gabbiadini got the ball rolling at the San Paolo, Slovakian schemer Hamsik hit a major career landmark to rubber-stamp the three points, which keep Napoli in touch with leaders Juventus.

Maurizio Sarri's men failure to score in a game for the first time this season, in the goalless draw with Genoa, had allowed Juve to take advantage and reach top spot with a midweek thrashing of Cagliari.

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