ROME (AP) — New Juventus coach Igor Tudor had a direct role in the Bianconeri's first goal since he replaced the fired Thiago Motta.
Tudor was quick to gather a ball on the sideline and toss it to Teun Koopmeiners for a throw-in that bounced off Dusan Vlahovic and into the path of Kenan Yildiz. He dribbled through the defense before scoring from a tight angle midway through the first half.
“It just happened," Tudor said. "It wasn't something we practiced.”
The goal ended up being decisive in a 1-0 win against Genoa during Tudor's debut in Serie A on Saturday.
The result was a sharp turnaround from 4-0 and 3-0 losses in Juventus’ two previous matches, which led to Motta's firing.
The Bianconeri conceded only one decent chance to a Genoa team coached by former Juventus player Patrick Vieira — an acrobatic effort from Andrea Pinamonti at the start of the second half that barely missed the target.
Juventus then nearly doubled the lead with a series of chances in the final minutes.
“I’m very satisfied, because Genoa is a serious squad that is doing well, and they run,” Tudor said. “We’ve had two or three training sessions and there’s been some enthusiasm, but you don’t get over a period like that in two or three days. We need to get over it by working hard.”
Juventus remained fifth, one point behind Bologna, which won at Venezia 1-0 earlier for its fifth straight victory with a second-half volley from Riccardo Orsolini.
Vlahovic and Yildiz, who both struggled under Motta, were given more responsibility by Tudor and immediately repaid the new coach.
A negative note for Juventus was an apparent injury to key defender Federico Gatti during the first half.
Roma wins its seventh straight
Roma won at Lecce 1-0 with a late strike from Artem Dovbyk for its seventh consecutive victory. The Giallorossi also extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches and moved up to sixth place — one point ahead of city rival Lazio.
Dovbyk combined his strength and dribbling skills to create the space to get his winning shot off.
Dovbyk also scored in Roma’s 1-0 win over Cagliari in the club’s previous match before the international break.
Police in Lecce intervened to avoid clashes between rival fans.
Como and Empoli drew 1-1.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
