Three rounds in one week didn’t shake up the Serie A league table, which still sees Napoli and Juventus leading the pack with a flawless winning record and a crushing goal difference. Inter lost two points in Bologna on Wednesday and are starting to fall short of breath, whereas Milan incurred in their second seasonal defeat, which raised Sampdoria’s ambitions.
Both Roman squads conquered three points to surpass the Rossoneri and position themselves behind the leading trio. At the bottom of the table, the situation is already critical for at least two coaches, Fabio Pecchia of Verona and Marco Baroni of Benevento, whose teams have not been scoring a single goal since the 1st round back in August.
Cagliari-Chievo 0-2
Very little to report in a match that Chievo turned in their favor with two goals by Roberto Inglese and debutant 22-year-old Polish Marius Stepinski. Second loss in a row for Cagliari, which showed to be much discontinuous, while Rolando Maran’s Clivensi confirmed to be living a positive moment after having snatched one point in Wednesday’s tough away match in Genoa.
Crotone-Benevento 2-0
Zero points, one goal scored, 16 conceded, and the shocking news of their captain Fabio Lucioni failing a doping test. Serie A debut season is turning into a nightmare for Benevento and their coach Marco Baroni, who according to rumors is now at risk of being sacked to leave room to a more experienced trainer. In what looked like an early relegation playout match, Crotone caught their first win of this season thanks to the goals of Rolando Mandragora and Marcus Rohden, and raised their head after a 1-5 rout against Atalanta in the midweek round.
Fiorentina-Atalanta 1-1
The Viola left their home stadium furious at a 1-1 draw against Atalanta, which managed to equalize during extra time with a powerful shot by Remo Freuler. After taking the lead with another beautiful goal by Federico Chiesa, Fiorentina protested vehemently at an alleged foul by Atalanta’s goalkeeper Erit Berisha inside the box, but referee Luca Pairetto didn’t award any penalty even after consulting the VAR. He did, on the other hand, concede a penalty to Atalanta, which Fiorentina’s goalie and former Nerazzurro Marco Sportiello neutralized it – only one among his multiple saves that maintained the score on 1-0 until Freuler’s late equalizer.
Inter-Genoa 1-0
Inter found an unexpected resource in Danilo D’Ambrosio not to lose contact with the leading duo. A late header by the Italian full back allowed coach Luciano Spalletti’s side to overcome Genoa and remain 2 points behind Juventus and Napoli – but this is the third so-and-so performance in a row for the Nerazzurri. Ivan Juric’s Grifoni ended up with empty hands once again, but would have surely deserved something more today. At 72’, Spalletti launched 19-year-old French midfielder Yann Karamoh, who showed some interesting moves and could turn out to be a useful resource in Inter’s quest for the Scudetto.
Roma-Udinese 3-1
Roma conquers three points overcoming a weak Udinese, one of the most disappointing teams seen in this Serie A season so far. Coach Eusebio Di Francesco’s side has been off the radar after their defeat against Inter, but are steadily climbing the stands after collecting four wins in the remaining four games played so far. Gigi Del Neri’s Friulani were buried under three goals, one by Edin Dzeko and two by Stephan El Shaarawy, in just 45 minutes. Udinese’s trainer lined up experienced goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri in place of underperforming Simone Scuffet, but the change did not sort any effect. Danish midfielder Jens Stryger Larsen scored a goal della bandiera for the Bianconeri in the second half, after Diego Perotti had missed the fourth goal for Roma hitting a post from a penalty kick.
Sassuolo-Bologna 0-0
A goalless draw seemed the most obvious conclusion for a match that had offered very few emotions, but a tap in by substitute Orji Okwonkwo gave Bologna an unexpected win, after Sassuolo’s goalie Andrea Consigli had saved a perilous shot by Rodrigo Palacio. Bolognesi moved up to 8 points in the standing, whereas Neroverdi were stopped again after having conquered their first win earlier in the week.
Spal-Napoli 2-3
The Partenopei continue their fantastic run and set a record of six consecutive wins, but Spal did give a hard time to Maurizio Sarri’s so far invincible squad. Leonardo Semplici’s Biancazzurri surprisingly took the lead with a conclusion by Pasquale Schiattarella, but it took less than 60 seconds for Lorenzo Insigne to equalize. After half time, a header by Jose Callejon brought Napoli ahead. Spal didn’t give up and moved the score to 2-2 thanks to a free kick by specialist Federico Viviani, before Faouzi Ghoulam exemplified Napoli’s hunger for winning with a right foot shot that preserved his side’s perfect record. However, it’s not only good news for coach Sarri, as Polish forward Arkadiusz Milik suffered a severe injury that will keep him away from the pitch for many months.
Verona-Lazio 0-3
Ciro Immobile prompts Lazio to quickly forget their heavy 1-4 defeat suffered last Wednesday against Napoli, and adds two more goals to his personal score. The Nazionale forward continues his exciting battle with Paulo Dybala for the Serie A top scorer title, and also took the time today to serve Adam Marusic an assist for Lazio’s 3-0 against Verona. Coach Fabio Pecchia’s Gialloblu had shown some sign of life in the midweek match against Sampdoria, but today went back to their insufficient standard shown so far, and opposed no resistance at all.