A derby day in Serie A saw Roma and Lazio meet in the 159th top-flight Derby della Capitale and Juventus and Inter lock horns in the famous Derby d’Italia. However, we’re here to have a look at the three remaining games that took place on Sunday.
While Roma lost to Lazio, courtesy of Roger Ibanez’s epic blunder, Juventus delivered arguably their best performance of the 2022/23 Serie A season to dispatch Inter. But let’s see what happened in the other three matches.
Bologna Stun Torino with Second-Half Comeback
It’s been over a year since Bologna last won back-to-back Serie A matches at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, but Thiago Motta’s men made the waiting worthwhile.
Despite finding themselves 1-0 down at halftime, the Rossoblu pulled off a stunning second-half comeback to beat fellow mid-table rivals Torino 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Ivan Juric’s side took the lead midway through the first half as Sasa Lukic converted a spot-kick after Jhon Lucumi brought down Aleksei Miranchuk.
Though referee Antonio Giua refused to penalize the Bologna center-back at first glance, VAR intervened to force his hand, allowing Torino to go into the break 1-0 up.
Motta reached out to the bench already the interval, introducing the likes of Charalampos Lykogiannis and Emanuel Vignato into the fray, with the hosts all too aware each of the last five H2Hs at this venue had finished level.
While Vignato nearly had an immediate impact, only to see Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic deny his effort early in the second half, there was no saving from another second-half substitute moments later.
After scoring a winning goal at Monza on Monday, Riccardo Orsolini came off the bench to draw Bologna level today, volleying home Vignato’s inviting cross.
TSG Hoffenheim loanee Stefan Posch completed the turnaround in the 73rd minute, tapping the ball into the empty net after finding himself completely unmarked at the back post.
Bologna’s heroics at Dall’Ara marked only their second win in their last 11 Serie A outings, while Torino wasted a glorious opportunity to climb within four points of the European qualification spots.
Fiorentina Hit Purple Patch and Leave Sampdoria in Despair
Fiorentina defied their underwhelming away form in Serie A to outplay early relegation candidates Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris for the first time since February 2020.
Unanswered goals on either side of halftime inspired La Viola to a 2-0 victory in Genoa, marking only their second away win of the 2022/23 Serie A season.
After losing their last two top-flight visits to Sampdoria by an aggregate score of 6-2, Vincenzo Italiano’s team hit the ground running from the opening whistle.
Dodo sprinted down the right-hand side before finding Giacomo Bonaventura, who slotted home to put the visitors in front only four minutes into the game.
A golden opportunity went begging soon after as Jonathan Ikone rounded past the keeper and passed the ball to Christian Kouame, who saw his attempt from point-blank thwarted by a goal-line clearance.
Sampdoria spent most of the second half struggling to produce anything meaningful in the front third and could have considered themselves lucky for trailing by a slender one-goal margin at halftime.
However, Dejan Stankovic’s men relinquished any hope of turning the match on its head on the cusp of the hour mark when Nikola Milenkovic fired Fiorentina into an unassailable two-goal cushion.
While La Viola moved to mid-table comforts, Sampdoria’s squandered a perfect opportunity to capitalize on Spezia’s loss at Milan to steer off the drop zone.
Monza Condemn Verona to Unwanted Club Record in Serie A
Up against basement boys Hellas Verona, Monza believed in their bid to bounce back from a poor three-game losing league streak and it paid off.
Raffaele Palladino’s men were on the verge of tarnishing the young coach’s outrageous touchline start in Serie A before fate brought Verona into their path.
After winning his inaugural three top-flight games in charge of Monza, Palladino lost three times in a row and was desperate to see a reaction from his side.
Carlos Augusto and Andrea Colpani stepped up to the plate, bagging a quick-fire second-half double to hand the Serie A debutants a landslide 2-0 win over 10-man Verona.
A goalless halftime left both sides with all to play for in the second half, with Salvatore Bocchetti’s visitors seeking their first league points since early September.
Verona had suffered seven successive Serie A losses in the run-up to this fixture and were on the cusp of setting an unwanted club record in the Italian top flight.
Thankfully for Palladino, Monza took advantage of their visitors’ rough patch and helped them lose eight Serie A matches in a row for the first time in the club’s history.
Nailed to the bottom of the standings, the Gialloblu languish four points adrift of safety and will face an uphill task to claw their way out of the relegation zone.