ROME (Reuters) – A second-half equaliser by Marco Borriello earned struggling Genoa a 1-1 draw at Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday, denting the champions’ hopes of a second successive title.

Juventus' Fabio Quagliarella celebrates with teammate Arturo Vidal after scoring against Genoa during their Italian Serie A soccer match at Juventus stadium in Turin January 26, 2013. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini

Former Juve forward Borriello struck in the 68th minute to leave Antonio Conte’s side on 49 points at the top, six clear of Napoli and Lazio who earlier suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat by Chievo Verona.

Genoa moved up to 18 points but remained third from bottom and Chievo climbed to 11th place on 28 points.

Fabio Quagliarella was on hand to put Juve ahead from Stephan Lichtsteiner’s low cross on 54 minutes after the Swiss was expertly found by Mirko Vucinic.

Genoa were second best all night but struck 14 minutes later on a rare foray forward, Juraj Kucka’s great work on the right ending with a superb cross from which Borriello gleefully headed home his sixth goal of the season.

Despite putting Genoa under intense pressure, Juventus could not get the breakthrough, giving Napoli, who travel to Parma on Sunday, a chance to close the gap at the top.

Lazio suffered a shock loss to Chievo to miss the chance to put pressure on Juventus.

Alberto Paloschi’s seventh goal of the season 61 minutes into an uneventful match inflicted second-placed Lazio’s first defeat since early November and dealt a huge blow to their title hopes.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

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