Juventus beat Napoli 1-0 in the Serie A encounter – Getty image Federico Gatti delivered Juventus a 1-0 victory against struggling Napoli on Friday night’s Italian Serie A encounter. The match saw Napoli squander many scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes. Napoli’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Matteo Politano tested Wojciech Szczesny early on, but Juventus responded with chances from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie. Napoli, however, missed a great chance when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia failed to convert a one-on-one opportunity with Szczesny. Juventus beat Napoli 1-0 in the Serie A encounter – Getty image Another golden opportunity came from a Piotr Zielinski free-kick, leading to a fine save by Szczesny denying Di Lorenzo. The second half saw Juventus star Vlahovic hitting the woodwork, before Federico Gatti secured the decisive goal for the Italian giants. Gatti’s header from Andrea Cambiaso’s cross found the back of the net, beating Napoli’s goalkeeper Alex Meret. Despite Napoli’s efforts, including Osimhen finding the net (ruled offside) and late attempts by Di Lorenzo and Politano, Juventus held on for the win. The victory makes it the first time Napoli are facing defeat against Juventus since April 2021, and it comes after Napoli lost to Inter Milan in a 3-0 thriller last weekend.
Timothy Weah waves as he arrives for fitness tests at the Italian soccer club Juventus F.C. in Turin, Italy. Source: AP He was signed from Ligue 1 side Lille for an initial fee of 10.3 million euros ($11.2 million). Juve said the fee can increase by a total of 3.1 million euros in bonuses based on sporting goals met as the club looks to replace the long-serving Colombian Juan Cuadrado, who left at the end of his contract. Confirming the move to the Italian club, he said; “Honored & Blessed to finally be Bianconeri. None of this would have been possible without the love and support of my wonderful family. Thank you to everyone at Juventus for believing in me and giving me this opportunity to represent this legendary club. “GRAZIE (thank you) to all the supporters for all the love they’ve shown me since day one and I can’t wait to meet you all very soon.” 
Adrien Rabiot celebrates a goal. Source: Getty Last summer, Erik ten Hag agreed a fee with Juventus for Rabiot but the deal fell through after an agreement over personal terms could not be reached. Eventually, United went on to sign Casemiro from Real Madrid. With the Mason Mount deal on the rocks and Rabiot committing to another year in Serie A, Manchester United may now turn to Brighton and Hove Albion’s Moises Caicedo. The Ecuadorian was interested in leaving Roberto De Zerbi’s club in January but a move elsewhere failed to materialise. The 21-year-old has a price tag of £80m but it is understood that United would be open to reaching this figure due to his potential. 
The Old Lady was handed a 15-points deduction after an investigation into the club’s past transfer dealings spanning two years from 2019 to 2021 by Italian football’s governing body (FIGC). Juventus were accused of fixing their balance sheets by artificial gains of around 60m euros from club transfers, charges they were found guilty of by the FIGC’s appeals court in January. The club, however, denied any wrongdoing and took its case to a tribunal at the Olympic Committee, Italy’s highest sporting court. However, the spectre of sanction has not disappeared completely as the sporting court ruled that the case should be re-examined. The club has now moved from seventh to third in Serie A, but could still be punished at a later date when a new hearing is held. 
The long bans given to former chairman Andrea Agnelli, ex-CEO Maurizio Arrivabene, and sporting directors Federico Cherubini and Fabio Paratici were upheld. Former player and director Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti, and Enrico Vellano were successful with their appeals. The Sports Guarantee Board now has a month to publish the reasoning behind its ruling, only after which the FIGC court can then reassess the case, meaning the affair will likely drag on until the end of the season. With eight games to go in the season, AC Milan has been knocked out of the Champions League places by Juve while Roma drop to fourth. 
Juventus: 15-point deduction from current Serie A standings Fabio Paratici, now a director at Tottenham: 30-month ban Andrea Agnelli, former chairman: 24-month ban Maurizio Arrivabene, former CEO: 24-month ban Federico Cherubini, current director: 16-month ban Pavel Nedved, former vice president: Eight-month ban Paolo Garimberti, former board member: Eight-month ban Enrico Vellano, former non-independent director: Eight-month ban Assia Grazioli-Venier, former board member: Eight-month ban Caitlin Hughes, former independent director: Eight-month ban Daniela Marilungo, former independent director: Eight-month ban Francesco Roncaglio, former board member: Eight-month ban Juventus were third in the Serie A table, 10 points behind leaders Napoli, but have slipped to 10th due to their punishment. Their hopes of winning the Serie A title are all but over and they must go on an impressive winning run to salvage European football. The club has already submitted an appeal for the penalty. The 15-point penalty is harsher than the nine-point deduction recommended by an FIGC prosecutor earlier in the day. 
In addition to Juventus, the following eight clubs were acquitted of any wrongdoing in the investigation: Sampdoria, Pro Vercelli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Empoli, Novara, and Pescara. 