Canada forward Jonathan David scores on Serie A debut as Juventus wins, Pisa draws at Atalanta
Canada forward Jonathan David scores on Serie A debut as Juventus wins, Pisa draws at Atalanta
MILAN (AP) — Canada forward Jonathan David scored in his Serie A debut to set Juventus on the way to a 2-0 win over Parma in their season opener on Sunday.
David joined Juventus in July on a free transfer after his five-year contract at Lille expired.
Juventus ended the match with 10 men after Andrea Cambiaso was sent off seven minutes from time but substitute Dusan Vlahovic doubled the Bianconeri’s lead moments later.
“It’s everything I hoped for,” said David, who was given a standing ovation when he was replaced by Vlahovic in the 80th minute. “It was the first game of the season and the fans brought an amazing atmosphere and you could feel them pushing us forward.
“I’m happy to score in my first game but the most important thing is the three points.”
The 25-year-old David scored 25 goals and provided 12 assists in 49 matches across all competitions for Lille last season.
David is also Canada’s all-time leading scorer with 36 goals in 67 appearances.
“The target is to help the team as much as I can,” David said. “If it’s by scoring goals, by getting assists, running back, defending, I will do everything.”
Juventus struggled in the first half but was dominant after the break and broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when David got in front of his marker to prod home Kenan Yildiz’s cross.
Yildiz also set up Juve’s second as a rapid counterattack saw Vlahovic send him down the right and then race from the center circle into the box to tap home the return pass.
That came shortly after Cambiaso earned himself a needless red card. He had gone up together with Mathias Løvik for a high ball and then reacted by shoving the Parma player and appearing to strike him in the face with his arm.
34-year absence
Pisa’s first match back in Serie A since 1991 ended with a credible 1-1 draw at Atalanta.
Pisa, which finished second in Serie B last season, surprisingly took the lead in Bergamo in the 26th minute.
Idrissa Touré’s cross from the right went through to Samuele Angori, who put it back into the area toward Henrik Meister, but Atalanta defender Isak Hien bundled it over the line instead.
Atalanta was playing its first match of the post-Gian Piero Gasperini era after the coach left for Roma following nine years in charge and was replaced by Ivan Jurić.
Jurić’s halftime talk paid off as Atalanta was a team transformed after the interval. Gianluca Scamacca leveled five minutes into the second half, gathering a pass from Mario Pasalic and cutting inside his defender before firing into the far bottom corner.
It was Scamacca’s first goal in more than 450 days and he almost doubled his tally in the 58th but headed off the crossbar.
Historic VAR announcement
Nico Paz set up one goal and scored a stunning second as Como kicked off its Serie A season with a 2-0 win over Lazio.
Cesc Fabregas’ team broke the deadlock less than two minutes into the second half when Nico Paz gathered the ball inside his own half and feinted past a Lazio player before threading an impressive through ball for Tasos Douvikas to run onto and fire past Ivan Provedel.
Nico Paz got on the scoresheet himself in the 73rd minute with a free kick into the top left corner.
Lazio had thought it had equalized 10 minutes earlier but Taty Castellanos’ strike was ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside.
In a first for Italian soccer, referee Gianluca Manganiello announced the decision live to the stadium. The explanation of VAR decisions in real time has been introduced from this season in Serie A.
Elsewhere, Sebastiano Luperto scored deep in stoppage time to snatch a 1-1 draw for Cagliari at home to Fiorentina.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
By DANIELLA MATAR
AP Sports Writer
