ROME (AP) ― Claudio Marchisio scored the sixth goal of his breakthrough season and Arturo Vidal converted a controversial penalty as Juventus beat Cesena 2-0 Sunday to reclaim the Italian league lead.
Cesena’s 42-year-old goalkeeper, Francesco Antonioli, kept Juventus in check at the Turin club’s new stadium until Marchisio fired in a 72nd-minute shot between two defenders with his weaker left foot.
In the 80th, Antonioli punched away a cross and then collided with Juventus forward Emanuele Giaccherini, receiving a red card that set up a penalty for Vidal despite vehement protests from Cesena.
Cesena had already used all three of its substitutions, so defender Guillerme Rodriguez had to put on Antonioli’s jersey and gloves and step in goal for Vidal’s penalty. Rodriguez moved to his right and Vidal easily knocked the ball into the other corner.
Despite missing suspended midfielder Andrea Pirlo, Juventus remained the only unbeaten team in Serie A and moved two points ahead of AC Milan and Udinese.
AC Milan had provisionally moved top with a 2-0 win at Genoa on Friday, while Udinese edged out struggling Inter Milan 1-0 Saturday at the San Siro.
“This result shows that we’re maturing,” Juventus manager Antonio Conte said. “I looked at the statistics and we had 70 percent of the ball possession and 21 shots. We’re improving day by day.”
France
Brazilian winger Nene scored one goal and created another to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Auxerre 3-2 and climb into second place in the French league and take some pressure off coach Antoine Kombouare.
PSG had lost three and drawn one of its last four games, and Sunday’s game at Parc des Princes was widely considered to be Kombouare’s last chance to salvage his job ― even though PSG is only three points behind leader Montpellier.
The talk this week had been when, not if, Kombouare will go, with the club’s wealthy Qatari backers reportedly seeking a bigger name.
All the goals came in a frantic second half. After Kenya striker Dennis Oliech canceled out Christophe Jallet’s opening goal, Nene set up Menez in the 76th minute and scored a penalty five minutes later.
England
Martin O’Neill got an idea of the problems he has to deal with at Sunderland when he watched his new team lose 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday.
With Kieran Richardson having put Sunderland ahead shortly after halftime, the former Celtic and Aston Villa coach watched from the stands as his club missed a chance for 2-0 when goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey saved a penalty from Sebastian Larsson.
Steven Fletcher equalized immediately from the resulting counterattack and scored again with nine minutes left to lift his team above Sunderland in the standings.
Spain
Real Sociedad scored late to snatch victory for a second straight week, beating Malaga 3-2 in the Spanish league on Sunday.
With Malaga on the verge of a fourth victory in five games, Carlos Vela equalized with an acrobatic bicycle kick in the 89th. Substitute Diego Ifran then beat Malaga defender Martin Demichelis and coolly shot past goalkeeper Willy Caballero for an injury-time winner.
Sociedad led in the 10th when Imanol Agirretxe’s header hit the crossbar and bounced off Demichelis into the net. Malaga striker Jose Rondon headed an equalizer in the 21st and Malaga surged ahead when Sebastian Fernandez stole the ball from defender Mikel Gonzalez and scored for 2-1 in the 59th.
Germany
Hamburger SV striker Jose Paulo Guerrero scored in a 2-0 win over Nuremberg Sunday to stretch the club’s unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to seven games.
Guerrero scored in the 24th minute, when he beat Timmy Simons to a long ball from goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny before lifting his shot over Raphael Schaefer in the Nuremberg goal from a tight angle.
Scotland
Celtic kept up the pressure on defending champion Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League on Sunday with a 1-0 win at Dundee United.
