Saturday 14 October 2017 22:33, UK
Ciro Immobile scored twice in a 2-1 Lazio victory in Turin as Paulo Dybala failed to save Juventus from their first home defeat in Serie A in more than two years.
A product of the Juve academy who was recently a formidable goalscoring force for their cross-town rivals Torino, Immobile continued his hot streak this term with a deft leveller from a pinpoint Luis Alberto assist shortly after the break.
Juventus then paid the penalty for Gianluigi Buffon's last-man foul on Immobile as the Neapolitan converted in the 55th minute.
It was Immobile's 14th goal in all competitions this term, marking his best ever start in the top flight, and proved enough to confirm Juve's first league loss at home since August 2015. On current form, head coach Simone Inzaghi is right to assume Lazio can target the Scudetto.
Defeat could have been avoided by Juventus, though, had Argentinian substitute Dybala stuck away a stoppage-time spot-kick, but Thomas Strakosha denied the prodigious number 10 with a flying parry.
Earlier, Douglas Costa had opened his account for Massimiliano Allegri's reigning champions, tucking away Sami Khedira's saved effort, although he needed the video assistant referee to prove he had not been offside.
In the aftermath Allegri refused to panic about lost ground in the title race, but later on Saturday evening Juventus fell five points behind leaders Napoli, who won 1-0 at Roma.
Lorenzo Insigne, who memorably formed a prolific partnership with Immobile while the pair were on loan at Pescara in 2011-12, rifled the Azzurri ahead following a 20th-minute mistake by Daniele De Rossi.
It was the Campanian forward's 100th senior goal and it proved to be the decisive moment at the Stadio Olimpico as the likes of Dries Mertens and Marek Hamsik tried and failed to follow it up.
Roma, who have been riding high thanks to a run of five victories from six games, were largely held at arm's length by Maurizio Sarri's men, with Edin Dzeko restricted to hitting the crossbar late on.
The Giallorossi will certainly have to harness more fire power during their Champions League showdown with English Premier League champions Chelsea on Wednesday, while Napoli will head to free-scoring Manchester City on Tuesday in a quietly reassured mood.
