Serie A is often talked down for its lack of goals and a widespread defensive-minded brand of football, but the start of the new season has gone in the other direction. As a matter of fact, there’s been no nil-nil draw yet, Corriere dello Sport reports.
The last one dates back to the previous campaign. Fiorentina and Genoa shared the spoils without scoring on May 10th, with the Viola needing just a point to avoid relegation mathematically. Seventy-three matches later, the same result has yet to recur.
There’s been no goalless draw in the first five rounds, which hadn’t happened since 1949/50, 77 years ago. It’s the only other campaign in Serie A history in which it has occurred.
The Italian clubs have bagged 145 goals in the first 5 match days. Only 3 seasons have been more prolific in the early going under the current 20-team format: 2013/20214, 2021/22 and 2020/2021. The average, 2.90 per game, is also the fourth-highest ever.
From this standpoint, the league has benefitted from an influx of aggressive coaches on the heels of Cesc Fabregas’ success at Como. In addition, the new rules against time-wasting introduced by FIFA during the recent World Cup and a more permissive refereeing style have sped up the play.
Our Take on Serie A
Time will tell whether it’s something momentary or a real evolution of the league. There are more proactive gaffers, but that might course-correct if the results aren’t adequate. Instead, the regulatory tweaks have worked well and should arguably have been implemented a few years ago, even though seeing games off is some sort of dark art too.
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