Crotone 0-3 Juventus
Juventus picked up their first Serie B win at the weekend and, despite missing the injured Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet, continued to climb out of their 17-point Calciopoli ditch with victory at Crotone.
The home side had the expected aggressive start, but couldn’t create any real chances and paid the price. Valeri Bojinov broke through after half an hour, spinning round his marker to turn in a Marcelo Zalayeta pass from six yards. Jean-Alain Boumsong has been criticised so far this season for costly errors in defence, but the former Newcastle United man scored a rare goal at the other end of the field, rising to nod in a Mauro Camoranesi corner kick. Crotone didn’t give in and Veron’s strike skimmed the crossbar before half-time.
Juve have repeatedly allowed opponents back into the game this season, but remained humble and worked hard to prevent any Crotone counter-attacks in the second period. Camoranesi went off after a knock to his ankle. Bojinov put the result beyond doubt when slotted home Federico Balzaretti’s pass, but it was a controversial goal as the Bulgarian was offside when his teammate received and came back into play to score.
Scorers: Bojinov 30, 77 (J), Boumsong 36 (J)
Crotone: Soviero; Alioui (Fusco 83), Rossi, Maietta, Bonomi; Veron, Cardinale, Gallardo; Gentile (Sedivec 63), Lopez, Nanni (Cariello 63)
Juventus: Buffon; Birindelli, Kovac, Boumsong, Balzaretti; Zanetti (Paro 58), Giannichedda; Camoranesi (Marchionni 71), Nedved (Palladino 67), Bojinov; Zalayeta