Serie A 2024-25: Roma wins first match under Ranieri; Juventus salvages point against Bologna

Serie A 2024-25: Roma wins first match under Ranieri; Juventus salvages point against Bologna

Roma thrashed Lecce 4-1 in Serie A on Saturday to give Claudio Ranieri his first victory since being appointed coach in mid-November.

Ranieri, the well-travelled 73-year-old coach who led Leicester to a shock Premier League title in 2016, is Roma’s third coach of a troubled season.

Roma has drawn once and lost twice since he came out of retirement, but it made no mistake at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

The match was tight in the first half as Alexis Saelemaekers’ opening goal was cancelled out by Nikola Krstovic from the penalty spot on 40 minutes.

The second half was a different story as Roma romped home thanks to goals from Gianluca Mancini, Niccolo Pisilli and French midfielder Manu Kone to stand 11th in the table.

Samuel Mbangula curled in a superb equaliser two minutes into stoppage time to salvage a point for Juventus against Bologna.

The 2-2 draw left Juventus sixth, seven points adrift of Serie A leader Atalanta but it could have been worse as Bologna had appeared to be heading for victory at the Allianz Stadium.

Dan Ndoye put the visitors ahead with a deft finish from a tight angle after half an hour and Tommaso Pobega doubled their lead seven minutes into the second half.

Juve finally got going when Teun Koopmeiners pulled back a goal 10 minutes later but despite applying intense pressure it looked as if they were heading for their first league defeat of the season.

With the clock ticking down, second-half substitute Mbangula picked up a pass on the edge of the Bologna area and the Belgian international placed a shot beyond the reach of ‘keeper Lukasz Skorupski.

In the day’s early game, Genoa and Torino played out a goalless draw in a mid-table clash.

Napoli can overtake Atalanta at the top if it beats Lazio at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Sunday.