Sat May 17 12:25:49 2008

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Del Piero scores twice in Juve draw

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Genoa, Italy (Sports Network) - Alessandro Del Piero scored two times as Juventus closed out its season with an entertaining 3-3 draw at Sampdoria on Saturday.

Del Piero's double puts him at the top of Serie A's goalscoring list, one ahead of Juve teammate David Trezeguet. He looks to be a good bet to claim the golden boot award as he now leads Genoa's Marco Borriello by two goals.

Neither side had anything to play for in this match, with Juve having already secured third place and Sampdoria assured of a spot in the UEFA Cup. However, the two sides put on a nice display of offensive soccer with Juve getting things started in the seventh minute through Del Piero.

The Juve captain took a cross from Pavel Nedved inside the area and found the back of the net for his 20th league goal, a total that Trezeguet also reached nine minutes later after he converted from the penalty spot to make it 2-0.

The home side pulled a goal back in the 22nd minute through Antonio Cassano and they were level with five minutes to play before halftime as Cristian Maggio made a great run down the right flank and struck a brilliant shot that gave Juve goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi no chance.

Cassano had a chance to put Sampdoria in front right before the break from the spot, but his effort was hit straight at the keeper, sending the two teams into halftime on level terms.

Juve's Mohamed Sissoko picked up a second yellow card in the 59th minute, reducing Juve to 10 men, but they soon found themselves in front after Del Piero drew a foul inside the penalty area.

With both Del Piero and Trezeguet level on 20 goals for the season, it was the captain who stepped forward and buried the penalty, but the home side still had one more goal left in its system.

Cassano atoned for his earlier miss with 10 minutes to play, setting up substitute Vincenzo Montella for the equalizer to an exciting match.