Giovanni Simeone scored twice as Genoa inflicted a convincing 3-1 defeat on the reigning champions and Serie A leaders, Juventus.

The Argentinian son of the Atlético Madrid manager, Diego, caught Massimiliano Allegri’s Scudetto hopefuls cold with a third-minute opener before cutting through a sleepy back-line to double the Grifone’s lead.

As the Bianconeri scrambled to try to rescue a point, the Brazilian midfielder Alex Sandro scored an unfortunate own-goal to put a share of the spoils out of reach, with Miralem Pjanic’s late strike from a free-kick merely sparing the Turin club from their worst league reverse since January 2011.

Following AC Milan’s big win at Empoli on Saturday the Old Lady are four points clear at the top before next weekend’s meeting with the form team Atalanta, who are joint fourth having won six games in a row.

This time La Dea claimed Bologna’s scalp, with Andrea Masiello and Jasmin Kurtic scoring the goals in a 2-0 win at the Stadio Renato dall’Ara.

Edin Dzeko scored twice but Roma needed a third goal from Diego Perotti to survive a Pescara comeback and triumph 3-2 in the capital. The Bosnian striker reached 12 league goals for 2016-17 with a quickfire early brace before Ledian Memushaj made it a contest after half-time.

Had Perotti not then stuck away a spot-kick, Gianluca Caprari’s powerful left-footed finish would have denied Roma their share of second place with Milan.

In the early kick-off the high-flyers Lazio edged past relegation candidates Palermo 1-0 in Sicily thanks to a solitary strike from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

The substitute Bruno Fernandes denied Diego Falcinelli the opportunity to fire Crotone to their second victory of the season by earning Sampdoria their share of the points from a 1-1 draw with his second-half equaliser.

Elsewhere Marco Sau, who had not scored for seven games, grabbed Cagliari’s winner in a 2-1 Stadio Sant’Elia triumph over Udinese. Diego Farias had put the Rossoblu in front, only for Seko Fofana to level for the Zebrette.