Juventus' winless streak continues

Rome: Juventus' winless streak reached four matches with a 2-1 loss at Palermo that dropped the struggling 27-time champion into eighth place in the Italian League.

Former Juventus striker Fabrizio Miccoli put Palermo in front seven minutes in with a shot under the legs of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, then Giulio Migliaccio doubled the lead in the 20th with a header off a corner on Wednesday.

Juventus argued for a penalty to no avail despite a clear handball by Palermo defender Cesare Bovo in the 34th, and Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio took his anger out over the missed call to cut the lead in half two minutes later with a shot that went by four defenders.

“There were fouls that were not awarded and a penalty not given that was devastating,” said Juventus coach Luigi Del Neri. “We want respect. It's not that they need to give us all the penalties, but at least the clear ones.”

Napoli loses

Second-place Napoli lost 2-0 at Chievo Verona, who scored goals through Davide Moscardelli and Gennaro Sardo. AS Roma was held to a 1-1 home draw by Brescia, who equalised in the 69th through Brazilian striker Eder after Marco Borriello had put Roma ahead.

AC Milan, which drew 0-0 with Lazio, holds a five-point lead over Napoli, with Lazio seven points back and Roma nine points behind in fourth.

Also yesterday, it was: Cesena 1, Catania 1; Fiorentina 1, Genoa 0; Parma 0, Lecce 1; Sampdoria 0, Cagliari 1; and Udinese 1, Bologna 1.

Series of injuries

Juventus, which is 13 points behind Milan, has not been able to overcome a series of injuries that has decimated its attack, taking out Fabio Quagliarella, Simone Pepe and Luca Toni.

Unlucky effort

Juventus signed Alessandro Matri as the transfer window closed on Monday, and the former Cagliari forward played from the start but his best chance unluckily hit Bovo's heel in the 48th.

Juventus also lost 2-1 to Udinese at the weekend, and was eliminated 2-0 by Roma in the Italian Cup quarterfinals last week following a 0-0 draw with Sampdoria.

“We deserved more, but now we've got to start over,” said Del Neri, who is in his first season with the Turin club. .

“We've got to make it clear that there needs to be more attention paid to Juventus right now by the refereeing department.”

The results: Cesena 1 (Jimenez 31) drew with Catania 1 (Maxi Lopez 8); Chievo 2 (Moscardelli 20, Sardo 50) bt Napoli 0; Fiorentina 1 (Santana 40) bt Genoa 0; Palermo 2 (Miccoli 7, Migliaccio 20) bt Juventus 1 (Marchisio 36); Parma 0 lost to Lecce 1 (Chevanton 90); Roma 1 (Borriello 58) drew with Brescia 1 (Eder 69); Sampdoria 0 lost to Cagliari 1 (Nainggolan 37); Udinese 1 (Domizzi 77) drew with Bologna 1 (Di Vaio 65) . — AFP