Juventus 3-2 Genoa: Bianconeri Claim First Win Under Alberto Zaccheroni

It was third time lucky for the hosts, as they managed to win Zac's third match in charge in Serie A in a five-goal thriller...

Juventus edged Genoa 3-2 at the Stadio Olimpico for their first victory under the guidance of coach .  was the hero with two goals in a back-and-forth encounter.

The hosts had to do without the injured and banned , as well as the usual absentees in Vicenzo Iaquinta, Mauro Camoranesi, and David Trezeguet. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pitch, Emiliano Moretti was suspended and Omar Milanetto pulled out after tweaking a muscle in the warm-up, being replaced by David Suazo.

The visitors had the better of the opening play and Suazo danced by two defenders before being blocked, but the clearance fell to Marco Rossi, whose bullet from 20 yards came back off the post!

It was a sign of things to come as Genoa soon took the lead after 15 minutes.  sent Acquafresca clear on a text book through pass and the striker cut back for Rossi to tap home from close range.
 tried to hit back through a few long range efforts from Diego, Antonio Candreva, and , but all three failed to trouble Marco Amelia in goal.

Rossi brought down Del Piero in his favourite spot on the egde of the area and earned a booking, but the Bianconeri talisman's freekick was into the arms of the waiting Amelia and a double booking was handed out to Candreva and Acquafesca as they engaged in a scuffle.

As the half was winding down, It was Amauri who finally ended his scoring drought to equalise, the striker rose high to head in a cross from Martin Caceres for his first goal since October. Caceres had done well on the right flank to escape Giuseppe Sculli and Domenico Criscito.

The second-half began with  reacting very quickly to deny Giuseppe Sculli from just a couple yards out.

The home fans let out their frustrations with jeers and whistles after an hour, as the game became a tighter affair with several fouls, slowing down the pace. However, it was then that Del Piero responded! Diego's clever back heel found the Italian on the edge of the area, who dribbled in the box and slotted past the Grifoni shot stopper on 62 minutes.

The advantage didn't last long as just a minute later Buffon made an incredible error, fumbling Mesto's cross and allowing Rossi to grab his second of the afternoon.

Papstathopoulos clumsily stepped on the rampaging  captain's foot and the referee awarded a penalty, although contact appeared to be outside the area! Nonetheless, Del Piero made no mistake from the spot to give the Turin oufit the lead with under 15 minutes remaining on the clock.

With the clock against them, Genoa threw men forward in search of a third goal and Zapater's cross bounced across the face of goal, but no Grifoni body could meet the ball with the Bianconeri defence scrambling.

However, the referee blew the final whistle and the score remained the same, meaning Juventus jumped to joint fifth place with Napoli on 38 points.

Source: Goal.com