The Albany Gazette - Draw specialists Juve held by derby rivals Torino

Nikola Vlasic earned a point for Torino, who haven't beaten their city rivals for a decade, with a superb strike which crashed in off the post in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Thiago Motta's team remain unbeaten in Italy's top flight this season, but Saturday's draw was their 12th of the league campaign and left them three points away from the Champions League positions.

Fifth-placed Juve have now drawn six of their last seven Serie A matches and have key clashes with Atalanta and AC Milan coming up next week.

The away side looked on their way to another win in what has long been a one-sided fixture in the eighth minute when Kenan Yildiz skipped past two Torino defenders and fizzed in a long-range opener, his sixth Juve goal of the season in all competitions.

But Juve were pegged back in a frantic evening at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino which finished with coaches Motta and Paolo Vanoli both being sent off following a pitchside scuffle 10 minutes after the break.

Motta, who responded to Vanoli exploding with rage at what he thought was a red-card worthy foul on Yann Karamoh, will be suspended for Juve's match at title contenders Atalanta on Tuesday evening.

That fixture is Juve's rescheduled game in hand due to their trip to Saudi Arabia to contest the Italian Super Cup at the start of the month, and Motta will likely still be without Dusan Vlahovic and Francisco Conceicao.

- Atalanta underwhelm -

Atalanta would have moved above league leaders Napoli, who host Verona on Sunday, on goal difference with a win at Udinese but were held to a goalless draw after a sub-par display.

Saturday's stalemate means Inter Milan can take second place from Atalanta if the reigning champions win at Venezia on Sunday afternoon as a three-way title race hots up.

Atalanta, gunning for their first ever Serie A title, created very little in Udine and were in fact lucky not to be beaten by the spirited hosts, who should have taken the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Alexis Sanchez hit the woodwork twice within a matter of moments right before the break, first with a header before smashing the rebound against the bar.

Goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi could hardly believe his luck when Sandi Lovric headed the second rebound straight at him and allowed Atalanta to get away with a poor display in the opening period.

The away side improved in the second half but did little against an Udinese team comfortably placed in mid-table after three straight draws.

"They were better than us, more intense than us. We struggled the whole first half and were lucky," said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini to DAZN.

"We were a bit better in the second half but in the end it's a decent point."

Later Sergio Conceicao makes his San Siro debut as AC Milan coach against struggling Cagliari after guiding his new club to victory in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Conceicao has changed the atmosphere around Milan since replacing Paulo Fonseca earlier this month and is charged with re-igniting his new team's bid for Champions League qualification.

Milan sit eighth after a dismal first half of the campaign which has left the seven-time European champions 17 points behind Napoli.

Nikola Krstovic boosted Lecce's survival hopes with a brace in a 3-1 win at Empoli which moved Marco Giampaolo's team three points above the relegation zone.

(O.Robinson--TAG)