Milan, Oct 3: Atalanta moved joint top in Italy with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina while, at Sassuolo, Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi became the first woman to referee a Serie A match.
Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman scored the only goal of the game in the 59th minute, although it was all about the assist provided by Luis Muriel.
Atalanta moved level with Napoli, which beat Torino 3-1 on Saturday. They are three points above defending champion AC Milan and Lazio.
Lazio beat Spezia 4-0 earlier Sunday.
Atalanta was without a number of players through injury and suspension but was also guilty of wasting a number of chances to take the lead.
There was a moment of controversy shortly before halftime when Fiorentina forward Christian Kouamé was shown a straight red card after making contact with Atalanta midfielder Marten de Roon but it was revoked after the referee reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Atalanta finally broke the deadlock 14 minutes into the second half when Muriel gathered a throw-in with his back to goal, turned and skipped past two players before pulling it back for Lookman to tap in from close range.
The home side should have doubled its lead shortly after but Joakim Mæhle fired straight at Pietro Terracciano after being sent through one on one with the Fiorentina goalkeeper.
Caputi creates history
Ferrieri Caputi became the first woman to referee a Serie A game when she took charge of Sassuolo’s 5-0 win over Salernitana.
There was hardly any controversy in a dominant performance by the home side, although one of the highlights was Ferrieri Caputi awarding a penalty for Sassuolo’s second goal.
Juventus get morale boost
Juventus rebounded from a disappointing defeat to promoted Monza with a 3-0 win over Bologna.
Filip Kostic netted his first goal for the club in the first half and Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Krystian Milik scored after the break. Milik also sent a header onto the post late on.
It was only a third win in eight league matches for Juventus and the result sent it to up to seventh in the standings.
After beating Juventus before the international break for its first-ever Serie A win, Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza made it two wins out of two with a 3-0 victory at bottom club Sampdoria, Also, Lecce drew 1-1 at home to Cremonese.
Other results
In other matches, AC Milan dominated at Empoli 3-1 while Lazio blanked Spezia 4-0.
Sassuolo also moved eight with a 5-0 hammering of Salernitana. (AP)
