Juventus 0 - Roma 2
Saturday 29th September 2001
Roma turned in a tenacious defensive performance on Saturday night to overcome the dismissal of Gabriel Batistuta and send league-leaders Juventus crashing to their first defeat of the season.
Juve had the bulk of possession in the first half, but lacked a cutting edge, and Roma had begun to look dangerous well before Batistuta put them ahead with a well-taken strike on 37 minutes.
Roma effectively sealed the title with a 2-2 draw at the Delle Alpi last season and the champions were similarly inspired as they withheld wave after wave of Bianconeri pressure after half-time.
Even when Batistuta was sent off for elbowing Michele Paramatti a quarter of an hour from time, Roma held firm - and it took a useful save from Gianluigi Buffon to deny Francesco Totti.
The game was sealed in injury-time when Vincenzo Montella's effort fell to Brazilian wing-back Assuncao, who made no mistake.
Juventus:Buffon, Zenoni, Thuram, Iuliano, Pessotto (Paramatti 68), Zambrotta, O'Neill (Maresca 59), Tacchinardi (Trezeguet 46), Nedved, Del Piero, Salas
Roma: Antonioli, Panucci, Zebina, Samuel, Candela, Aldair, Tommasi, Assuncao, Lima (Cafu 70), Totti (Montella 78), Batistuta
Booked: O'Neill, Trezeguet (Juve); Samuel, Batistuta, Aldair, Totti, Candela, Assuncao (Roma)
Sent off: Batistuta (Roma)
Referee: Cesari
Attendance: 48,000
