Daily Times

NAPLES: Kalidou Koulibaly made sure that Juventus’ miserable start to the season continued on Saturday with the late winner in a 2-1 triumph for Napoli that put them top of Serie A. Senegal captain Koulibaly knocked home the winning strike from practically on the goal line with five minutes to go at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to maintain Napoli’s 100 percent start and move them three points clear in first place. Matteo Politano levelled near the hour mark after Alvaro Morata had put a depleted Juve ahead early on.

Koulibaly, 30, won the match for Napoli after reporting for training immediately following his return to Italy from World Cup qualifying wins for his country over Togo and Congo. After netting the winner he snatched a camera from a pitch-side photographer to take a snap of the celebrating fans behind the goal. “I saw all the fans celebrating and wanted to take a picture as it was so beautiful,” said Koulibaly to DAZN. “The win is for them as we were without them for a year and when we see them like that we’re all happy.” Defeat for Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve meanwhile drops them down to 16th place in Italy’s top flight after a second straight defeat which leaves them with a single point from their first three matches. “That’s the way things are going right now. I couldn’t have asked more from the players tonight,” insisted Allegri, whose team travel to Malmo in the Champions League on Tuesday. “Right now errors are making things difficult for us… we are being made to pay for every mistake we make. All we can do is keep working. “Let’s hope that we can begin the Champions League better than we have the league season.”