Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Roma beats Juventus 2-1 as defending champs drop second straight

Italy Soccer Serie A

Romaís Radja Nainggolan, left, challenges Juventusí Paulo Dybala, during a Serie A soccer match between Roma and Juventus, at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

AP

Juventus’ quest for a fifth straight Serie A title has gotten off to a rough start, finding themselves at the bottom of the table with zero points through two matches.

After losing on opening day to Udinese 1-0, Juventus fell to Roma today 2-1, the first time in club history the side has lost consecutive matches to open a season. Juve lost just three matches all of last season.

[ RELATED: Manchester City signs de Bruyne ]

Roma took the lead off of a free kick from Miralem Pjanic, who bent one beautifully over the wall in the 61st minute. Juve’s comeback attempt took a big blow when defender Patrice Evra was sent off in the 77th minute after receiving a second yellow card, as the defending champs found themselves a goal down as well as a man down.

It was then Edin Dzeko, on loan at Roma from Manchester City, who sealed the deal, scoring his first goal for the Italian club to make it 2-0.

Paulo Dybala got on the board for Juventus in the 87th minute, but it was too little too late for Max Allegri’s men, who will surely have some questions to answer in the coming days.

Juventus was a win away from completing the European treble last season, claiming the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles before losing in the Champions League final. However, the offseason departures of Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal seem to be taking their toll on the Italian giants.

For Roma, who has finished second behind Juve the past two seasons, this early season win will give them some added confidence that this could be the year the mighty Juventus fall.