Juventus top Roma on penalties

NEW YORK: Juventus closed out the International Champions Cup friendly tournament with a 5-4 win on penalties over Roma after the Italian clubs played to a 1-1 draw. Mario Mandzukic’s opening goal for Italian champions Juventus was cancelled out by Edin Dzeko’s second-half strike. The match, between last season’s top two teams in Serie A, offered a tantalising glimpse of the upcoming domestic campaign. Managers Massimiliano Allegri and Eusebio Di Francesco named strong starting line-ups. Juventus were more active in the opening minutes and were rewarded in the 29th when Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic beat Federico Fazio onto a through ball from Alex Sandro, dribbling around Roma goalkeeper Allison and firing to make it 1-0 in the 29th minute. Roma’s Diego Perotti and Dzeko combined for three promising exchanges but were unable to break through and Roma went into the break a goal down. But Dzeko delivered the equaliser in the 74th, tapping in a cross from Aleksandar Kolarov from close range. But in the shootout, Marco Tumminello’s miss proved too much to overcome and Juventus handed Roma a second shoot-out defeat of the tournament. The match drew some 33,000 fans to Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. — AFP