Juventus 2 - 1 Ascoli
Del Piero pen 13, 39 (J), Cariello 32 (A)
Alessandro Del Piero proved he's back with a brace, but Ascoli gave Juventus a battle in Turin.
The Bianconeri were looking to maintain their 100 per cent record, but newly promoted Ascoli were still unbeaten after facing Milan and Lecce. Fabio Capello had to reshuffle his defence with Lilian Thuram, Alessandro Birindelli and Gianluca Pessotto injured, while the visitors had to replace the suspended Vittorio Tosto. Alessandro Del Piero returned to the starting eleven, giving Zlatan Ibrahimovic a rest.
There was more bad news for Juve, as after less than two minutes Jonathan Zebina, who was making his comeback from injury, pulled up clutching the back of his knee. The unlucky Frenchman limped off and Manuele Blasi took on the right-back role, just as he had done in the Champions League midweek.
Surprisingly, the first real scoring opportunity fell to Ascoli after six minutes, as two players left a Cariello cross and Sasa Bjelanovic blazed over from seven yards with only Christian Abbiati to beat.
Although Juve dominated possession, Ascoli were creating the best chances, as Emerson needed a late challenge to block Fini and Abbiati was called into a save on ex-Torino man Quagliarella's counter-attack.
However, the referee pointed to the spot when Pavel Nedved's cross struck Cristiano's arm just inside the area. Del Piero stepped up and rolled home a weak but effective penalty to give Juventus the lead with their first real shot on goal.
Ascoli have made a name for themselves as giant-killers and proved it again when they scored the first goal that Juventus have conceded in Serie A this season. Cariello shrugged off Patrick Vieira's challenge and saw his angled drive from the edge of the box deflected off Fabio Cannavaro to draw the visitors level.
This shook Juve out of their stasis and Cudini required a goalline clearance on Mauro German Camoranesi's looping header.
It lasted just seven minutes, as Del Piero proved he is definitely back by curling in a magnificent free kick that rose and dipped past the outstretched hand of Coppola.
Del Piero's delightful first touch on Nedved's cross set up Camoranesi, only for the Argentine to balloon over the bar from a promising position.
Ibrahimovic replaced David Trezeguet at half-time, but Del Piero continued to dominate with a header that glanced wide. Ascoli weren't about to let go and Abbiati flew to block Foggia's cross-shot, while ex-Torino hero Marco Ferrante stepped back into the Stadio Delle Alpi.
Coppola did well to punch out Nedved's strike and fingertip an Ibrahimovic free kick round the post. The Czech midfielder shook the side-netting from a promising position and Ibrahimovic somehow managed to nod wide of an open goal following Coppola's error.
Juventus: Abbiati; Zebina (Blasi 3), Kovac, Cannavaro, Zambrotta; Camoranesi, Emerson, Vieira, Nedved; Del Piero, Trezeguet (Ibrahimovic 46)
Ascoli: Coppola; Comotto, Cudini, Domizzi, Del Grosso; Carriello (Foggia 52), Cristiano, Parola, Fini; Bjelanovic (Colombo 80), Quagliarella (Ferrante 52)
Ref: Tagliavento
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