Juventus slip up again

By Paolo Corradini

Juventus FC suffered a second successive defeat tonight as they lost 1-0 at US Città di Palermo while UC Sampdoria - who had ended Juve's unbeaten home record in midweek - were 3-0 winners at home against nine-man ACF Fiorentina.

Brienza winner
Franco Brienza's 12th-minute goal settled the match in Palermo. The playmaker beat Gianluigi Buffon with a strike from outside the box after the Juve goalkeeper had just kept out a free-kick from Eugenio Corini. The visitors dominated possession but created few chances and Palermo could have added to their lead in the second half, as both Brienza and Mariano González missed chances.

Milan can narrow gap
That result means AC Milan can narrow Juve's lead at the top of Serie A to two points if they beat S.S. Lazio tomorrow. Sampdoria's win lifted them into fourth place, level on 38 points with FC Internazionale Milano.

Fiorentina dismissals
Sampdoria's opponents tonight, Fiorentina, found themselves down to nine men inside eleven minutes as forward Valeri Bojinov and defender Daniele Delli Carri were sent off, the former for elbowing Sergio Volpi after eight minutes and the latter for dissent three minutes later. Sampdoria opened the scoring on the quarter-hour through Francesco Flachi and Max Tonetto doubled the lead before the break. Aimo Diana added the third goal with 16 minutes remaining.