Juventus’s early season woes continued on Sunday with a 2-1 defeat to

scudetto rivals Roma as Chievo went top of Serie A with a resounding

4-0 win over Lazio.

A week after being stunned at home by Udinese, Juventus, the Italian

champions and beaten Champions League finalists, suffered a second

straight league defeat at the start of the season for the first time in

their history.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri has called for fans’ patience as several

new recruits, notably Carlos Tevez’s replacement Mario Mandzukic, settle

in at the club.

But the 48-year-old Italian suggested the Turin giants, only a few

months after a fairytale end to a double-winning season, have yet to

focus fully on the job of defending their fourth consecutive title.

“I’m not worried, but we have to change something, namely our mental

approach,” said Allegri, whose side has undergone several changes since

last season.

In a later tweet, Allegri added that Juventus have to “work to fix

the things that are not working, get the new lads settled and don’t cry

about it: let’s get back on top quickly!”

Runners-up to Juventus the past two seasons, Roma raced into a 2-0

lead with 11 minutes to play thanks to Bosnia pair Miralem Pjanic and

Edin Dzeko after Juventus had been reduced to 10 men following Patrice

Evra’s sending-off.

The champions, who sit 17th, pulled a consolation goal back, their

first of the league season, through Paulo Dybala in the final minutes.

But Roma were dominant throughout and fully deserved beating Juventus

in the league for the first time since Francesco Totti sealed a 1-0 win

in February 2013.

“We dominated them so we’re looking at the glass half-full, but we

went to sleep at the end and gave them a really soft goal,” Roma captain

Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sport.

“But I think we played incredibly. You can’t forget, Juventus were

challenging for the Champions League (in the final) a few months ago.” 

Having slipped to a 1-1 draw at Verona

last week, Roma emerged among Serie A’s high-flyers on a day that

produced more than a few surprises.

Lazio, whose Champions League group stage hopes were ended midweek in

the play-off by Bayer Leverkusen, looked despondent as Chievo ran riot

at their Bentegodi stadium.

Riccardo Meggiorino’s opener took a deflection before bobbling past

Lazio goalkeeper Etrit Berisha on 12 minutes, but his next trick was far

more impressive.

As a cross from the left was swept beyond the far post, Meggiorini

somehow got his heel to the ball and knocked it back in towards Alberto

Paloschi, who beat Berisha with a firm header from close range.

Former AC Milan forward Walter Birsa all but wrapped up the points

for the hosts on the stroke of half-time when he curled the perfect free

kick into Berisha’s top right-hand corner. 

Paloschi, another ex-Milan forward, had his second of the night just after the hour mark as Lazio crumbled.

“The lads fully deserved the win, but that doesn’t mean it was easy,” said Chievo coach Rolando Maran.

On-loan Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic, meanwhile, took his

goals tally at Inter Milan to three from two games as the Nerazzurri

chalked up a second successive win, 2-1 at new boys Carpi. 

Gonzalo Higuain opened his account this season with a first half brace as Napoli raced to a 2-0 lead at home to Sampdoria.

But an Eder penalty on the hour reduced the arrears and the

Brazil-born Italy international levelled the match just a minute later

as Napoli settled for their first point of the campaign.

In Turin, Fiorentina were given a 10th minute lead by Marco Alonso

but two goals in the space of two minutes from Emiliano Moretti and

Fabio Quagliarella turned the match on its head.

Torino sealed the points with their third on 77 minutes, thanks to

Daniele Baselli’s crisp shot from inside the area to move up to second.