Juve and Udinese share top spot

Juventus were held at Catania but remain joint Serie A leaders with Udinese [GALLO/GETTY]

Juventus drew 1-1 with Catania on Sunday to reclaim Italy’s Serie A lead and remain unbeaten under new coach Antonio Conte.

Argentine forward Gonzalo Bergessio put Catania in front in the 21st minute of the rainy match in Sicily and Serbia winger Milos Krasic equalised in the 49th – with the help of an error from Catania goalkeeper Mariano Andujar.

Krasic also set up Alessandro Del Piero for a possible winner in the 81st but the 36-year-old Juventus captain missed with a weak header.

Juventus and Udinese have eight points each but Juventus lead on goals scored.

Strong start

Udinese drew 0-0 at Cagliari, while Atalanta extended their impressive start with a 2-1 win over fellow promoted club Novara.

Atalanta trail the leaders by four points, but the Bergamo squad would be two points clear if not for a six-point penalty from a match-fixing and betting scandal that also resulted in a 3½-year ban for their captain Cristiano Doni.

Matias Schelotto scored with a close-range header for Atalanta in the 34th and Luca Cigarini doubled the lead with a shot from just beyond the area in the 59th. Filippo Porcari pulled one back for Novara in the 88th.

Results

Sunday 25 September  Atalanta 2-1 Novara   Cagliari 0-0 Udinese   Catania 1-1 Juventus  Chievo 2-1 Genoa  Lazio 0-0 Palermo   Siena 3-0 Lecce  Saturday 24 September    AC Milan 1-0 Cesena   Bologna 1-3 Inter Milan  Napoli 0-0 Fiorentina

Also, Siena beat 10-man Lecce 3-0 with two goals from Emanuele Calaio and another from Mattia Destro; and Lazio drew 0-0 with Palermo.

Earlier, Chievo Verona beat 10-man Genoa 2-1 with an injury-time winner from Davide Moscardelli.

On Saturday, Inter and AC Milan got their first wins. Inter beat 10-man Bologna 3-1 in coach Claudio Ranieri’s debut and injury-plagued Milan edged Cesena 1-0.

Also, Napoli and Fiorentina drew 0-0.

In Verona, Moscardelli scored a headed goal in the third minute of added time to follow up his goal in a 1-0 win over Napoli on Wednesday.

Rodrigo Palacio had put Genoa in front in the 48th with his league-leading fourth goal of the season and Sergio Pellissier equalised for Chievo in the 74th.

Pellissier failed to convert a penalty in the 60th after Genoa defender Dario Dainelli was sent off for a hard foul on the striker.

For his goal, Palacio did well to hold off Chievo’s defence and beat goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino after taking a pass from Cristobal Jorquera.

Recently fired Inter coach – and former Genoa manager – Gian Piero Gasperini had wanted to acquire Palacio in the offseason, and the former Boca Juniors striker is showing what made him attractive to Gasperini.

Pellissier equalised with a header following a corner kick from recently acquired United States midfielder Michael Bradley.

Bradley also began the action that led to the winner, sending a long pass up the right flank to Gennaro Sardo, who crossed to Moscardelli.