Genoa blew away Serie A leaders Juventus on Sunday, getting three goals in an astonishing first half-hour on the way to a pulsating 3-1 win.
Giovanni Simeone, the 21-year-old son of Atletico Madrid coach Diego, scored twice in the first 15 minutes before Alex Sandro put through his own goal on a miserable afternoon for the Turin side.
Miralem Pjanic pulled one back for the titleholders when he curled in a free kick in the 82nd minute.
It was the first time since October 2005 that Juventus had conceded three goals in the first half of a Serie A match.
Juve’s defeat was good news for the title race as it allowed AS Roma and AC Milan to move within four points of them.
Roma beat Pescara 3-2 in the late game, thanks for a flying start by Edin Dzeko who scored twice in the first 10 minutes to take his tally for the season to 12.
Milan had won 4-1 at Empoli on Saturday.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri recognised that his side had been outmuscled by their opponents.
“There’s only one way to sum up the game: we suffered 25 fouls and we only committed eight ourselves, and when you suffer physically, then you are going to lose the game,” he said.
Genoa, ninth in the table with 19 points, went ahead with an extraordinary goal after just three minutes.
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci lost possession and Luca Rigoni sprinted clear.
His shot was parried by Gianluigi Buffon, who also saved the rebound from Lucas Ocampos and then another effort from Simeone before the Argentine forward scored at the fourth attempt.
Ten minutes later, a flowing move found Darko Lazovic on the right and he turned Sandro inside out before delivering a low cross which Simeone met with a diving header to score the second.
Genoa, who had already beaten Milan by the same score at the Luigi Ferraris stadium, looked dangerous every time they came forward and they got a third goal in the 29th minute after more chaos in the Juventus defence.
A corner found Rigone who volleyed against the crossbar and Sandro, in attempting to clear, only succeeded in heading it over the line.
Shortly afterwards, Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci went off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Juve pulled themselves together after halftime and brought on striker Gonzalo Higuain but were only able to make a small dent in Genoa’s lead with Pjanic’s late goal.
Lazio and Atalanta both won to move on to 28 points, one behind Roma and Milan.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic tapped in Dusan Basta’s cross from close range to give Lazio a 1-0 win at Palermo and hand the Sicilians a seventh straight defeat.
Andrea Masiello and Jasmin Kurtic scored in each half to give Atalanta a 2-0 win at Bologna, their sixth win in a row.
Palermo are now level at the bottom on six points with Crotone who drew 1-1 with Sampdoria.
Marco Sau scored with a back-heel flick to give Cagliari a 2-1 win over Udinese in the afternoon’s other match.
