Rome: Juventus came back from 2-0 down to settle for a 2-2 draw against Salernitana in a topsy-turvy Serie A game with four red cards, in which Arkadiusz Milik saw his last-gasp winner wiped out.
Juve were coming off a 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, and entered the Allianz Stadium on Sunday evening without Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot, Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba, Wojciech Szczesny and Federico Chiesa.
The away side took a shock lead in the 18th minute when Pasquale Mazzocchi’s mazy run created a chance for Antonio Candreva to bundle over the line.
Juve’s Dusan Vlahovic had the ball into the net in the 39th minute, but the Serbian was flagged offside in the build-up.
Salernitana increased their lead before the break as Krzysztof Piatek struck Gleison Bremer’s hand in the box, and the Pole stepped up to convert the resultant penalty.
The Bianconeri pulled one back straight after the break as Bremer atoned for his error by heading in Filip Kostic’s cross.
It was a dramatic end as Juve won a penalty in stoppage time, and although Leonardo Bonucci saw his first attempt parried away, the veteran followed up to tap in the rebound.
Milik thought he had scored the winner for Juve in the dying minutes and was sent off for over-celebrating. However, the referee ruled the goal out after a VAR check, as Bonucci was in an offside position and interfering with play.
The controversy also sparked a conflict as Bonucci, Salernitana’s Federico Fazio, and Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri saw red during the brawl.
Elsewhere, a pair of strikes from Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto helped Lazio down Hellas Verona 2-0, and newly-promoted Monza, who had suffered five consecutive defeats, eventually snatched their first point in the top flight after a 1-1 draw with Lecce.
Also on Sunday, Udinese came from behind to defeat Sassuolo 3-1, Bologna rallied to beat Fiorentina 2-1, and Atalanta shared the spoils with Cremonese in a 1-1 draw.
–IANS