Serie A: Cagliari stun Juventus, AC Milan crash Sampdoria

Rome, July 30 (IANS): Cagliari snapped their winless streak as they beat defending champions Juventus 2-0 while AC Milan continued their unbeaten run with a 4-1 victory over Sampdoria in the ongoing Serie A .

The Bianconeri claimed their ninth consecutive victory on Sunday, so Maurizio Sarri made several changes to the starting line-up on Wednesday evening.

Juventus dominated with 34 attempts but it was Cagliari who found the net as starlet Luca Gagliano took center stage with one goal and one assist, helping his side snatch their first three points since July, reports Xinhua news agency.

Elsewhere, AC Milan were up by three goals before the hour mark with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brace and Hakan Calhanoglu’s volley.

Gianluigi Donnarumma performed well to deny a penalty but could do nothing to stop Kristoffer Askildsen’s screamer. Rafael Leao sealed the match in the dying minutes with a curler from the edge of the box.

Roma secured fifth place on the table as the Giallorossi edged past Torino 3-2 as Edin Dzeko, Chris Smalling, and Amadou Diawara were on target. Ciro Immobile is just one goal away from equalling the all-time record of Serie A goals in single season set by Gonzalo Higuain in 2015-16 season, as the Lazio striker collected his 35th goal, helping the Aquile conquer Brescia 2-0.

The relegation battle intensified as a 2-1 victory over Udinese helped 18th-placed Lecce narrow the gap to Genoa to one point while Genoa were demolished by Sassuolo 5-0.

In Wednesday’s other Serie A matches, Fiorentina swept aside Bologna 4-0, and Hellas Verona dominated SPAL 3-0.