The international fixtures for the 2020 calendar year came to an end in midweek, and Serie A returned for another exciting round. Both Milan and Sassuolo maintained their positions thanks to exciting goals from their attacking talismans.
Among the usual suspects, there were wins for everyone but Napoli in the only top of the table clash. The Partenopei dropped out of European places, and Atalanta too lost its position. Meanwhile, Bologna, Inter Milan, Lazio, and Juventus gained momentum with their points in their bag.
Lazio piled pressure on hapless Crotone, while a Cristiano Ronaldo led Juventus eased past Cagliari. Jeremie Boga scored a wonder goal in Sassuolo’s win over Hellas Verona, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored his fifth goal in two games. But it was the Milan giants who secured famous wins. The Nerazzurri secured one of their famous come from behind victory while their crosstown rivals downed Gennaro Gattuso’s Partenopei.
There were a reduced number of goals in Round 8 as players as the international break had its impact. However, the quality was there, and here is our top-five pick from match-day eight.
Rodrigo De Paul vs Genoa
There was late drama in the game with Gianluca Scamacca having a goal ruled out in added time and Mattia Perin getting his marching orders. But the night belonged to Udinese and Rodrigo De Paul. The Argentine put the finishing touch with an excellent strike to earn a mention. Marvin Zeegelaar won an aerial ball, which Stefano Okaka wrestled away from the Genoa defense. The forward gave it to Roberto Pereyra, who then found Rodrigo De Paul. The Argentine did not miss and scored the only goal of the match.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic vs Napoli
In this crunch top of the table clash, Napoli needed the points to make their claim for the Serie A title. The Partenopei had one job, and it was to keep Zlatan Ibrahimovic quiet. This task fell to Kostas Manolas and Kalidou Koulibaly, but they failed despite their determination. Milan overloaded the left flank, which allowed Theo Hernandez to send an attacking ball into the area. Ibrahimovic jumped across Koulibaly, sending a glancing head into the bottom right corner to score in his sixth successive Serie A outing.
Cristiano Ronaldo vs Cagliari
Juventus have been out of sorts without Cristiano Ronaldo, but their nerves were settled with the Portuguese back in the lineup. He scored two exquisite goals to make it six strikes from four domestic outings, while also strangely allowing others opportunities. It was his first that broke the deadlock and finer of the two strikes. Receiving the ball from Alvaro Morata on the left edge of the box, CR7 made little work of two Cagliari defenders’ approach before unleashing a drive that went past Alessio Cragno.
Jeremie Boga vs Verona
Sassuolo were top of the Serie A points table. In the process, they become the first team since 2001 to oust the seven sisters and be at the top after eight games, albeit for a couple of hours, courtesy of Jeremie Boga and Domenico Berardi. Fortune was on the Neroverdi’s side as Verona hit the post four times, while the Ivorian’s strike left everyone speechless at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. It came after Berardi found Boga in acres of space inside the box after cutting in from the right flank. The Italian’s pass was inch-perfect and allowed the 23-year-old to carefully curl the ball into the top right corner.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan vs Parma
What do you do when you come across a man possessed? In any field of life, you are advised to take the other path, but this is not possible on the field. After putting Genoa to the sword with a hat-trick in the most recent matchday, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was at it again. He scored a brace to stretch Roma’s unbeaten run to seven games. His first of the night, just after Borja Mayoral had given the Romans the lead, was out of this world. The Armenian attacker pounced on the ball and sent a fierce volley from 30 yards out to leave every bamboozled at the Stadio Olimpico.