It’s been a while since a Serie A Gameweek produced fewer goals, with the excitement being at an all-time low. After numerous low-scoring contests over the weekend, many had thought Monday could make it up for the past two days. But Roma and Juventus had none of it.
Roma vs Cremonese
After a narrow 1-0 victory away to Salernitana on the opening weekend, Roma headed into their home clash against newly-promoted Cremonese as odds-on favourites to maintain their 100% start to the season.
However, Jose Mourinho’s men again struggled for conversion, as all-star trident Paulo Dybala, Nicolo Zaniolo, and Tammy Abraham wasted countless clear-cut chances to sink the spirited visitors.
The Giallorossi enjoyed a phenomenal start to the game, with goalscoring opportunities in front of Ionut Radu’s goal flying across the opening ten minutes.
But after Abraham and Zaniolo failed to take advantage of Dybala’s pinpoint deliveries, Cremonese started to show some teeth, turning the tide of the game through the high press.
Neither side found the net before the break. However, in addition to ruing missed chances, Roma lost Zaniolo to a shoulder injury on the stroke of halftime.
Mourinho’s lads eventually took the lead midway through the second half. Chris Smalling got his head on the end of Lorenzo Pellegrini’s perfect corner-kick delivery to break the deadlock.
As ever, Mourinho decided to drop deep to defend a slender lead. It nearly backfired on the former Inter boss as Cremonese squandered a few decent openings to restore parity.
In the end, Roma eked out another 1-0 triumph to join Inter and Napoli at the top of the Serie A table.
Sampdoria vs Juventus
Juventus got the new Serie A season off to a flying start, beating a new-look Sassuolo side 3-0 to send a message to other Scudetto contenders that they are back in the race.
But Massimiliano Allegri’s enthusiasm was short-lived as the record-time Italian champions shared the spoils with Sampdoria in a tepid 0-0 draw at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Monday evening.
Following a frantic start to the game that saw both sides miss several glorious chances to open the scoring, both sides turned on a ‘cagey’ mode as halftime approached.
Sampdoria striker Francisco Caputo wasted the most opportunistic chance in the first half, with Juventus keeper Mattia Perin deflecting his low-range attempt to the crossbar.
As for the visitors, marquee goal-getter Dusan Vlahovic spent most of the opening 45 minutes playing in a ‘stealth mode,’ with his compatriot Filip Kostic soaking up the limelight as Juve’s headline performer.
With over 60 minutes on the clock, Juventus thought they had finally broke down Sampdoria’s stubborn defence as Adrien Rabiot pounced on Vlahovic’s delightful layoff to put Allegri’s team in front.
Yet, after consulting with the VAR room, referee Rosario Abisso disallowed the Frenchman’s opener for an offside in the build-up, sending the visiting fans into a realm of pain.
Juventus continued to dominate possession and keep Sampdoria in their own half but to no avail. They’ll have to do much better if they are to make a strong case for themselves in the Scudetto race.