Own goal keeps Juventus on top

It was meant to be the match where Mario Mandzukic showed he could be more than an understudy to Gonzalo Higuain this season.

Instead, the Croatia forward again appeared off form and disinterested as Juventus struggled to a hard-fought 1-0 win at Palermo in Serie A on Saturday.

This was the first time the duo played together in a tactical experiment that appears to have failed. Juventus looked thoroughly unimpressive.

Juventus found it hard to break down a resilient Palermo side and the only goal came about thanks to a slice of fortune for Massimiliano Allegri's side three minutes after the break. Dani Alves' long-range effort took a massive deflection off Edoardo Goldaniga's heel, sending the ball past Palermo goalkeeper Josip Posavec.

In Sicily, Mandzukic again failed to impress, wasting a free header in the first half and seeing a tame effort saved in the 70th, when he should have done better from close range.

The former Bayern Munich forward did have the ball in the back of the net moments later but he was offside when Dani Alves' free kick was floated in. .

Mandzukic, who played only the final 10 minutes of the midweek 4-0 victory over Cagliari, started in last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Inter Milan, but Juventus looked much more threatening when he was replaced by Higuain with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Napoli kept the pace with the champions beating high flying Chievo with a polished display.

Napoli put their minds at rest thanks to two goals scored in the first half by Gabbiadini and captain Marek Hamsik. Yesterday Today Tomorrow Juventus Napoli AS Roma Inter Chievo AC Milan Bologna Genoa Fiorentina Lazio Udinese Sampdoria Sassuolo Torino Pescara Palermo Cagliari Empoli Atalanta Crotone PW D 6 5 0 6 4 2 5 3 1 5 3 1 6 3 1 5 3 0 5 3 0 4 2 1 4 2 1 5 2 1 5 2 1 5 2 0 5 2 0 5 1 2 5 1 2 6 1 2 5 1 1 5 1 1 5 1 0 5 0 1 L F A Pts 1 12 4 15 0 14 5 14 1 13 5 10 1 7 5 10 2 7 6 10 2 8 7 9 2 7 9 9 1 6 4 7 1 5 4 7 2 8 7 7 2 6 8 7 3 5 7 6 3 5 8 6 2 8 6 5 2 6 7 5 3 3 7 5 3 7 11 4 3 2 6 4 4 6 11 3 4 3 11 1 Cittadella Benevento Pisa Verona Spezia Brescia Carpi Frosinone Entella Bari Ternana Ascoli Salernitana Pro Vercelli Spal Cesena Trapani Novara Vicenza Latina Perugia Avellino PW D 6 5 0 6 3 3 6 3 2 5 3 1 6 2 4 6 2 3 6 2 3 5 2 2 6 2 2 6 2 2 6 1 4 5 1 3 6 1 3 6 1 3 5 1 2 5 1 2 6 0 5 6 1 2 6 1 2 6 0 4 5 0 3 6 0 3 L F A Pts 1 13 6 15 0 11 3 11 1 4 2 11 1 11 6 10 0 5 3 10 1 9 5 9 1 7 5 9 1 4 3 8 2 7 7 8 2 4 7 8 1 4 5 7 1 6 5 6 2 6 6 6 2 6 10 6 2 7 8 5 2 3 4 5 1 4 6 5 3 6 9 5 3 3 9 5 2 6 10 4 2 4 6 3 3 2 7 3 Today