Italian league leaders Juventus maintained its unbeaten start to the Serie A season with a hard-fought 3-2 win over second placed AS Roma in a match that saw referee Gianluca Rocchi dish out seven yellow cards and two red cards.
The match burst to life from the 27th minute when the referee first awarded a freekick to Juventus after Maicon handled Andrea Pirlo’s freekick to much protest from the Juve players who felt it should have been a penalty.
And following consultations with his nearest assistant, referee Rocchi decided to award Juve a penalty instead much to the disbelief of Roma players who protested the change of mind even after Tevez had converted the spot-kick to put Juve ahead.
The lead though last only four minutes as Roma got awarded a penalty for a foul by Stefan Lichtsteiner on Roma captain Francesco Totti, who picked himself up to level scores and then getting booked along with Juve defender Leonardo Bonucci as both players clashed after the penalty was scored.
Roma then took the lead a minute before half-time through Juan Iturbe from close range, only for Tevez to equalise for Juve two minutes into first half stoppage time with a second penalty and third awarded in the match following Miralem Pjanic’s foul on Paul Pogba.
The second half witnessed the players go on with a calmer temperament, which meant the pace of the match too went down a few notches with Pjanic getting the best chance to restore Roma’s lead only to shoot wide from close range just after the hour mark.
The calm opening to the second half was however only a ruse for a dramatic end to the match which first saw substitute Alvaro Morata’s header hitting the Roma woodwork eight minutes to the end.
Juve eventually got the winning goal a minute to the end when a cornerkick found Bonucci in the area, with the defender smashing in a first-time volley.
There was still time for referee Rocchi to send off Juve striker Morata and Roma defender Kostas Manolas, after the latter reacted angrily to a foul on him by the former; a reaction that prompted the bench of both sides to get involved in a scuffle.
The feisty win made it six wins from six for Juventus and extended the Turin club’s winning streak at home in the league to a record 22 consecutive matches.
Elsewhere in Italy, Sassuolo and Palermo remain bottom of the league still without a win, with Sassuolo losing 3-2 at SS Lazio in a match each sice had a man sent off while Palermo fell 3-0 at Empoli.
Allessandro Matri scored in stoppage time to give Genoa a 2-1 win at Parma while Udinese was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Cesena and, allowing Sampdoria to rise to third courtesy of a 1-0 win at home to Atalanta.