Juventus kick-off season with win

Rome, Aug 26 (IANS):

Defending champions Juventus got off to a promising start in the new season of Serie A as they beat Parma at home 2-0 Saturday.

Though Arturo Vidal missed a penalty in the first half, the Turin based club took the lead through Stephan Lichtsteiner in the 54th minute, reported Xinhua.

Andrea Pirlo scored four minutes later to double their lead, and it took some sterling saves from the home side’s goalkeeper Marco Storari to prevent Parma from finding a way back into the game.

Massimo Carrera was in-charge on the Juventus bench following the upholding of Antonio Conte’s 10-month ban for failing to report on match-fixing while at Siena.

Parma’s head coach Roberto Donadoni was disappointed with his side’s performance and accused them of being intimidated.

“We conceded two goals in the space of four minutes. It’s a shame. With a little more conviction and determination we could’ve done better, especially in the first half,” he said.

In the other match of the day, Stevan Jovetic scored two goals to give Fiorentina a 2-1 winning start at the expense of a weakened Udinese side, who appeared to be more focused on their Champions League qualifier next week than the Serie A opener.

Udinese’ Maicosuel did put them in front after 28 minutes, but the Fiorentina in their home match responded well in the second-half with the Jovetic grabbing a brace, the second coming as the last kick of the game.

The result gives Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella an ideal start while Udinese will now aim for a better outcome in Europe Tuesday.

Visiting coach Francesco Guidolin rested six players, including Antonio Di Natale, in view of Tuesday’s Champions League play-off second leg against Braga while Montella had no such concerns and was able to name his strongest starting 11.