‘Panenka’ and win over Juve on teary Toni’s farewell

Verona striker Luca Toni says he will cherish memories of his final Serie A game “forever” after a fairytale swansong saw him score a cheeky ‘Panenka’ spot-kick in 2-1 win over champions Juventus on Sunday.

“It will be a match I remember forever. It was my last, but it came at the right time,” Toni said. Toni, who once finished as the Bundesliga’s top scorer with Bayern Munich, announced last week that playing Juventus would be the final challenge of a 22-year career. The 38-year-old was given the chance to score when the referee awarded an arguably soft penalty two minutes before the interval after Juve defender Alex Sandro’s collision with Eros Pisano. Toni stepped up to beat second-choice Juve keeper Norberto Neto with a cheeky, Panenka-style spot-kick that stopped his Serie A career tally at 157 goals in 344 games.

The results:Serie A: Verona 2 (Toni 43-pen, Viviani 55) bt Juventus 1 (Dybala 90+4-pen); Torino 1 (Peres 66) lost to Napoli 2 (Higuain 12, Callejon 20).