Giuseppe Rossi scored a hat trick Sunday as Fiorentina
came back from two goals down to stun two-time defending champion and fierce
rival Juventus 4-2 in Serie A.
Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba gave Juventus a 2-0 halftime
lead but Rossi struck back with goals in the 65th, 76th and 80th and Spanish
forward Joaquin added his first Serie A strike in the 78th.
''It's difficult to score against Juve and even more
diffiult to score four times,'' Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella said.
''Coming against a historic rival, this was a marvelous and splendid Sunday.''
Rossi has eight goals through eight rounds. The United
States-born forward was recently called back into Italy's national team after
two years of injuries and three surgeries.
''The goals were great but we really reacted well as a
squad in the second half,'' Rossi said. ''We showed a lot of courage and a lot
of heart. We can play with anyone.''
Rossi's father, Fernando, died in 2010.
''Rossi has had two tough years both family-wise and
injury-wise,'' Fiorentina captain Manuel Pasqual said. ''He deserved a day like
this.''
After its first loss, Juventus remained tied with Napoli
five points behind Roma, which beat Napoli 2-0 Friday to extend its winning
start to eight matches. Fiorentina is fifth, nine points back.
Promoted Hellas Verona is fourth, one point ahead of
Fiorentina, after beating Parma 3-2 with a goal from Fabrizio Cacciatore and
two penalties from Jorginho - one earned by former Italy forward Luca Toni.
Fiorentina had not beaten Juventus at home since
December, 1998, when Gabriel Batistuta was the club's key scorer.
''For our fans, it's as if we won a trophy today,''
Pasqual said.
Juventus, meanwhile, doesn't have much time to regroup,
with a match at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday.
''The match was closed,'' Juventus coach Antonio Conte
said. ''Then something unthinkable happened. We lost a match that we were
dominating. But that's football. ... We need to learn something from this.''
In other matches, it was: Atalanta 2, Lazio 1; Genoa 2,
Chievo Verona 1; Livorno 1, Sampdoria 2; Sassuolo 2, Bologna 1.
Later, Inter Milan visits Torino in its first match since
an announced takeover of the club by a group of Indonesians.
In Florence, it was all Juventus until Mati Fernandez was
fouled by Kwadwo Asamoah to set up a penalty for Rossi in the 66th.
Ten minutes later, Rossi appeared to surprise Gianluigi Buffon
with a shot from beyond the area that the Juventus and Italy goalkeeper should
have stopped.
Joaquin was then left all alone inside the area to make
it 3-2 and Rossi rounded out a career performance by finishing off a
counterattack with Juan Cuadrado.
In the 85th, Rossi exited to a well-earned standing
ovation.
It was quite a turnaround from the first half.
Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo hit the crossbar in the
14th and the visitors took control when Tevez was fouled by Gonzalo Rodriguez
at the edge of the area to set up a penalty for the Argentina forward in the
37th.
Pogba doubled Juve's lead three minutes later by
volleying in after Cuadrado's clearing attempt went straight up into the air.
Earlier in Bergamo, midfielder Luca Cigarini scored one
goal and set up another as Atalanta won its third straight.
Cigarini put the hosts ahead in the 41st with a long, low
shot then provided the through ball for German Denis' winner in the 84th.
Lazio's 20-year-old Colombian forward Brayan Perea had
equalized in the 53rd with his first Italian league goal.
Denis dedicated his goal to his mother with a specially
prepared T-shirt, since it was Mother's Day in his home country of Argentina.
Culled from Sportsillustrated
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