While Serie A Matchday 26 is not over yet, with Roma taking on Torino in Monday’s fixture, it’s time to take stock of another remarkable weekend in the Italian elite society. From Dusan Vlahovic’s red-hot form to Lautaro Martinez’s record-breaking campaign, we’ll walk you through the highlight moments.
Vlahovic Has No Match in 2024
Juventus squeaked past relegation-battling Frosinone 3-2 on Sunday to halt a dismal four-game winless streak in Serie A and consolidate their position in a top-four race. Though Massimiliano Allegri had Daniele Rugani to thank for snatching away three points at the death, Vlahovic was the man under the spotlight.
The most prolific striker in Serie A in 2024 struck early to put Juventus in front, netting his eighth league goal since the turn of the calendar year. However, Frosinone turned the game on its head before the half-hour mark. Walid Cheddira scored his first top-flight goal since September to level the score before Marco Brescianini completed the turnaround.
Eusebio Di Francesco’s celebrations ended abruptly in the 32nd minute as Vlahovic slotted another ball past Michele Cerofolini to restore parity. It looked improbable that Juventus would need Rugani’s 95th-minute winner to overcome the Canaries, but a strange turn of events at the Allianz Stadium required the defender’s last-gasp heroics.
Calzona Off to Gut-Wrenching Napoli Start
How often do reigning champions change three managers during a defending league campaign? That probably encapsulates Napoli’s terrible 2023/24 season, as nothing goes their way this term. Hired to undo the damage left in the wake of Walter Mazzarri’s disastrous interim tenure, new boss Francesco Calzona slumped at the first hurdle.
Downtrodden Serie A champions Napoli were minutes away from posting their first away league win since November. However, Zito Luvumbo’s stoppage-time strike hauled back Victor Osimhen’s deadlock-breaker midway through the second half as Cagliari held Partenopei to a 1-1 draw at the Unipol Domus.
While a hard-fought stalemate lifted Claudio Ranieri’s side to within a point of safety, a sixth consecutive Serie A road trip without victory left Napoli stranded in mid-table, a whopping 12 points adrift of fourth-placed Bologna. These are dark times for the southern giants, and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.
Martinez’s Catch-Me-If-You-Can Serie A Form Picks Lecce Apart
With all due respect to Vlahovic’s red-hot form in 2024, there’s only one king in Serie A. It’s Inter captain and the division’s top-scorer Martinez! The 26-year-old proved his Capocannoniere credentials with another match-winning performance as Nerazzurri put Lecce to the sword in Puglia.
An overwhelming 4-0 triumph at Stadio Via del Mare restored Inter’s 11-point cushion at the top of the Serie A table, with Martinez soaking up the limelight as a match hero. The Argentine opened the scoring with a brilliant finish to give Inter the lead in the 15th minute.
Though Lecce contained the damage for the rest of the first half, they collapsed after the break, with Inter steamrolling to another landslide victory on the back of Davide Frattesi’s blitz. The Italian midfielder doubled the visitors’ lead nine minutes after the break before teeing up Martinez for his second two minutes later.
Stefan de Vrij put the icing on the cake as Inter’s flawless start to the new calendar year now reads ten wins out of ten.
Milan Denied by VAR
Milan hoped they would bounce back from a disappointing week in which they lost 4-2 at Monza and 3-2 at Rennes when Rafael Leao’s superb solo goal fired them 1-0 up only three minutes into Sunday’s blockbuster clash against Atalanta. Stefano Pioli’s side seemed in complete control of proceedings, but their self-destructive nature struck again.
Olivier Giroud’s over-zealous challenge on Emil Holm slipped Daniele Orsato’s attention. But after consulting with VAR, the famous Italian referee awarded a penalty to Atalanta. Teun Koopmeiners gave Mike Maignan no chance as La Dea settled the score late in the first.
Despite dominating the game after the break, Milan failed to get on the scoresheet again. If it’s any consolation, the 19-time Serie A champions preserved a seven-point lead on fifth-placed Atalanta, but there’s a bitter taste in Pioli’s mouth after a controversial VAR call condemned his side to a second consecutive winless league outing.
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