Football: Flying Roma send Juventus to second straight defeat

Juventus Dybala kicks the ball during the match against AS Roma in their Serie A soccer match at Olympic stadium in Rome. PHOTO: REUTERS

MILAN (AFP) - Unbeaten Roma snatched the early season scudetto rights after ending their 30-month wait to beat Juventus in a morale-boosting 2-1 win over the Serie A champions at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Roma, the Italian runners-up the past two seasons, raced to a 2-0 lead with 11 minutes to play thanks to Bosnian duo Miralem Pjanic and Edin Dzeko after Juventus had been reduced to 10 men following defender Patrice Evra's late sending-off.

Juventus pulled a consolation goal back, their first of the league season, through recent Argentine signing Paulo Dybala in the final minutes.

However Roma held on to beat Juventus in the league for the first time since a Francesco Totti winner sealed a 1-0 win in February 2013.

The defeat also means Juventus have failed to win their opening two games of a Serie A season for the first time, having lost 1-0 at home to Udinese last week.

Roma's first win of the campaign, after a 1-1 opening draw away to Verona, pushed them up to second place at two points behind Sassuolo, with Juventus in unfamilar position and third from bottom.

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