McKennie helps Juventus beat Bologna 2-0 to close gap

MILAN (AP) — Weston McKennie scored to help Juventus beat Bologna 2-0 in Serie A on Sunday and bounce back from its demoralizing loss to title rival Inter Milan.

The American netted Juve’s second goal, in the 71st minute, after Arthur had given the Bianconeri the lead in the first half.

Juventus moved within seven points of Italian league leader AC Milan, which was beaten 3-0 at home by Atalanta on Saturday. Second-place Inter Milan also dropped points with a 0-0 draw at Udinese. Nine-time defending champion Juventus also has a match in hand.

Juventus is fourth, two points above sixth-place Napoli, which lost 3-1 at Hellas Verona despite scoring after less than nine seconds.

Juventus had lost 2-0 at Inter last week but boosted morale by beating Napoli by the same scoreline on Wednesday to lift the Italian Super Cup.

Andrea Pirlo’s side needed a stroke of luck to take the lead against Bologna in Turin, as Arthur’s somewhat hopeful shot was deflected into the bottom right corner in the 15th minute.

It was Arthur’s first goal for Juventus since joining from Barcelona in June.

Juventus had chances to double its lead, notably when Bologna goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski performed a stunning double save to keep out first Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort and then Federico Bernardeschi’s attempt on the rebound.

It took Juventus until the 71st to get the second when McKennie headed in a corner for his fourth goal for the Bianconeri.

McKennie almost doubled his tally immediately but Skorupski pulled off a fantastic save to keep out the American youngster’s close-range volley after great work from Ronaldo.

FAST GOAL

Hirving Lozano scored Napoli’s fastest goal in Serie A and also the third-fastest ever in the Italian top division.

Lozano fired Napoli in front after just 8.9 seconds according to statistics supplier Opta, which said he was just behind Rafael Leão and Paolo Poggi.

Leão had broken Poggi’s 19-year-old record when he scored for AC Milan in a 2-1 win against Sassuolo last month.

Federico Dimarco had been partly at fault for Lozano’s opener but the Verona defender atoned for his error by starting and finishing the move for the equalizer in the 34th.

Antonín Barák netted what was to prove the winner for Verona in the 62nd, following an inspired pass from Mattia Zaccagni.

RELEGATION BATTLE

Mattia Destro scored the only goal as Genoa beat fellow struggler Cagliari 1-0.

Genoa moved four points above 18th-place Cagliari.

Parma is a point below Cagliari and hosts Sampdoria later. Lazio also plays Sassuolo later.

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