MILAN, Italy (AFP) — Juventus closed the gap at the top of Serie A with a 2-1 win over bottom club Benevento yesterday as leaders Napoli were held by Chievo and Inter Milan drew 1-1 against Torino.

Amato Ciciretti’s first-half opener for Benevento stunned Juventus before Gonzalo Higuain and Juan Cuadrado scored after the break to seal three points for the six-time defending champions.

Napoli drew 0-0 in Verona and have 32 points from 12 games, one point ahead of Juventus who move ahead of Inter, now another point back in third.

Despite their battling performance, newcomers Benevento, nicknamed ‘Le Streghe (The Witches), have now lost their first 12 games of the campaign, matching the worst start to a season in any of Europe’s big five leagues set by Manchester United in 1930.

“It seemed like a cursed game, as the ball just did not want to go in, but we needed to be calm, sharp and not too hasty,” said Juventus Coach Massimiliano Allegri.

Benevento looked determined to gatecrash Juve’s 120th anniversary celebrations when Ciciretti struck from a free kick that left Wojciech Szczesny helpless — the first time this season that a team have opened the scoring against the champions.