Buffon sent off as Juve falls to Lecce
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Juventus suffered a new dip in its rollercoaster Serie A season with a 0-2 defeat at lowly Lecce yesterday after goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was sent off after 11 minutes.
The Italy No. 1 was dismissed for handling outside the area to stop David Di Michele's run on goal and from then on Juventus was fighting a losing battle and barely had a shot.
Algerian midfielder Djamel Mesbah netted for the hosts on 32 minutes when he escaped the offside trap and Andrea Bertolacci doubled the lead early in the second period to power Lecce up to 15th in the table.
Even the dismissal of Lecce's Giuseppe Vives for two bookings midway through the second half failed to spoil the party.
Once-mighty Juventus, which beat champion Inter Milan last weekend to spur hopes of a revival in fortunes, stays sixth with its scudetto chances all but over and the fourth Champions League spot looking more distant.
Leader AC Milan was traveling to Chievo later yesterday after Inter cut the gap at the top to two points with a 1-0 win at home to Cagliari on Saturday when goalscorer Andrea Ranocchia looked to be offside.
The controversial 7th-minute strike came when the former Genoa player touched in Houssine Kharja's effort.
Holder Inter hosts Bayern Munich in a Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday, a repeat of last season's final, and coach Leonardo used the Cagliari game to give Goran Pandev a rare start.
The Macedonia striker is set to fill in against the Germans for the ineligible Giampaolo Pazzini, partnering Samuel Eto'o who was taken off in an insipid second half to spare his legs.
Wesley Sneijder and Lucio sat out the game as they battle to be fit to face Bayern and Inter, hanging on at the end of the match, badly missed the guile of the Dutch playmaker.
Napoli, in third position, can move back above Inter with a home win over Catania in yesterday's late game.
In Saturday's other Serie A match, seventh-placed Palermo's hopes of a Champions League spot took a blow when Daniele Paponi's header in stoppage time gave mid-table Bologna a 1-0 home win. Injury-hit Palermo was reduced to 10 men on 57 minutes when Santiago Garcia was dismissed for a second booking.
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