Gonzalo Higuain called Juventus‘ 4-3 win over his former club Napoli a “roller coaster” and that’s certainly what Saturday’s Serie A match turned out to be.Napoli had fought back from 3-0 down thanks to goals from three of its new signings but Kalidou Koulibaly’s attempted clearance looped into his own net in stoppage time to hand the Bianconeri the win against one of their main title rivals.Juventus appeared to be cruising to an impressive victory after goals from debutant Danilo Gyasi Zardes Jersey , Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo.“It was a roller coaster,” Higuain said. “They scored two quick goals, that shouldn’t happen. We dropped out the game and they equalized but at the end we won.“It’s a very important victory, we have to improve things but we gave our all on the field and in the end we were rewarded.”The defeat will hurt Napoli even more as it was orchestrated by its former coach.New Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri was at the stadium but not on the bench as he recovers from pneumonia. Napoli fans have labeled him a traitor for taking over their bitter rival after making his name in Naples.“We didn’t play well at all in the first hour,” Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “The match could have finished 3-3 and it wouldn’t have changed the judgment on Napoli’s performance, which is negative.“I would have been disappointed even if we had drawn. I would have made the same observations.”Danilo signed from Manchester City earlier this month and he had an immediate impact 26 seconds after coming on for the injured Mattia De Sciglio Bobby Wood Jersey , giving Juventus a 16th-minute lead following a rapid counterattack from Douglas Costa.Juventus doubled its tally three minutes later. Higuain received the ball with his back to goal, swiveled to beat Koulibaly and fired into the top right corner.Ronaldo netted his first league goal of the season shortly after the hour mark, slotting home after another assist from Douglas Costa.Napoli got one back in the 66th as former Roma defender Kostas Manolas headed in a free kick for his first goal for his new club and debutant Hirving Lozano further reduced the deficit less than three minutes later when he beat Matthijs de Ligt to Piotr Zielinski’s cross.The 20-year-old De Ligt, who became the most expensive defender in Serie A history when he completed a 75 million euro ($85 million) transfer from Ajax last month, had been handed his debut in place of injured Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini.De Ligt was also was at fault for Napoli’s equalizer as he allowed Giovanni Di Lorenzo to get in front of him and bundle in Zielinski’s cross.However, there was still another twist. There appeared to be no danger when a Juventus free kick was floated into the area https://www.thetopsoccer.com/usa/paul-arriola-jersey , especially with Koulibaly in lots of space to make the clearance, but he shinned it into the top corner of his own net. Both teams failed with late penalty kicks as Athletic Bilbao missed a chance to take the Spanish league lead after being held by promoted Mallorca to a 0-0 draw on Friday.Abdon Prats missed wide from the spot for host Mallorca in the 82nd minute, and Athletic striker Aritz Aduriz had his penalty stopped by goalkeeper Manolo Reina six minutes into stoppage time.The result moved Athletic within a point of leader Atlético Madrid, which visits Real Sociedad on Saturday. A win would have moved the Basque Country club to the top entering the weekend.Mallorca, back in the first division after a six-year absence, was 14th in the 20-team standings with four points from four matches.Mallorca still had time to find the net after Aduriz’s miss for Athletic from the spot Zack Steffen Jersey , but forward Alex Alegria was called offside.Athletic’s penalty was awarded for hand ball after video review. Mallorca’s penalty came after a foul against Japanese teenager Takefusa Kubo, who is on loan from Real Madrid.Both teams hit the woodwork in the game at Mallorca’s Son Moix Stadium.Defending champion Barcelona hosts Valencia on Saturday, while Real Madrid hosts Levante.
