Juve’s Krasic squanders chance for three points

JUVENTUS were held to a 1-1 draw at home to mid-table Cagliari, and former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni made a winning start in charge of Parma as they beat Siena 3-1 in Serie A yesterday.

A dreadful stoppage-time miss by forward Milos Krasic cost Juventus, who started the weekend as joint leaders with AC Milan, the chance to win after they squandered an early lead.

Krasic, out of favour under coach Antonio Conte this season, was given a rare chance in the team and failed to take it as he sent a weak effort wide of the mark when he was presented with a free shot inside the penalty area.

Mirko Vucinic had given unbeaten Juventus a seventh-minute lead, only for Andrea Cossu to equalise three minutes after the break with a 25-metre shot that swerved away from Gianluigi Buffon.

Donadoni, sacked by Cagliari before the start of the season, got off on the right foot at Parma thanks to goals from Jonathan Biabiany, Francesco Valiani and Sebastian Giovinco, leaving them 12th with 22 points. Donadoni replaced Franco Colomba, sacked by the Sardinians after last week’s 5-0 defeat at Inter.

Third-placed Udinese lost ground in a 3-2 defeat at Genoa, where they were missing three regular players – Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana) and Mehdi Benatia (Morocco) – due to the African Nations Cup.

Although Damiano Ferronetti gave Udinese a half-time lead, they were stung by three goals in a 21-minute spell from Andreas Granqvist, Bosko Jankovic and Rodrigo Palacio. Striker Antonio Di Natale, 34, pulled one back from a penalty, his 13th goal of the season.

In Spain, Athletic Bilbao improved their chances of playing in Europe next season when Fernando Amorebieta, Fernando Llorente and Mikel San Jose secured a 3-0 win at home to Levante in La Liga.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side climbed to fifth with 26 points from 18 matches, level with Osasuna but ahead on goal difference after the Pamplona-based club lost 2-0 at home to Racing Santander, their first defeat in seven games.

Bilbao and Osasuna are four points behind Levante, the season’s surprise packages who briefly topped the table in October despite having one of the smallest budgets in Spain’s top flight and now occupy fourth.

Diego Simeone enjoyed a winning home debut as Atletico Madrid coach when his side thumped struggling Villarreal 3-0, a first victory in four matches for the capital’s second club putting them 10th.

Real Madrid fought back from a goal down to clinch a 2-1 win at Real Mallorca on Saturday, a club record 11th consecutive victory away from home in all competitions for Jose Mourinho’s side, giving them 46 points.