Serie A Day 5 opened on Saturday when AC Roma faced Hellas Verona at 6pm.
The “Giallorossi”, once again proved themself against a side that is having a really good start of the campaign. Francesco Totti, fielded from the start, orchestrated AC Roma’s attacks supported by Miralem Pjanic and Adem Ljajic on the wings. Mattia Destro was the lone striker up front. It took 75 minutes though for youngster Alessandro Florenzi to fire the home team into the lead with a long range effort, from well outside the box, scoring for the second game in a row. Destro’s beautiful finish, from almost midfield, added another one and the contest was pretty much over. Despite a decent game, Verona didn’t seem to have what it takes to challenge AC Roma home in these days. Always victorious in both League and Champions League, the side from the capital looks even ahead of champion Juventus in the title race. Midweek contest against the City in Manchester ( 1-1 ) could revive italian soccer in Europe and give Rudi Garcia’s men an unstoppable momentum.
Juventus, despite the final score of 3-0 against Atalanta, had a difficult night in the lombard city of Bergamo. The local team playing in front of a packed “Azzurri d’Italia” Stadium and strong of home fan support, played a fierce game. Richmond Boakye had the difficult job to stop Claudio Marchisio runs, while Argentinian striker, German Denis, was up front trying to beat Italian football icon, Gigi Buffon. On the other side of the pitch, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente were as usual up front, Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal formed Juventus dam in the midfield. The first half was fought evenly with chances for both sides until Tevez gave his team the lead by converting a golden opportunity. Tevez finished the rebound on Marchisio’s shot that had been saved by home goalie Marco Sportiello. In the second part of the contest Atalanta was determined to level things but Denis missed a penalty. This resulted in a counterattack ending in Juventus second goal. Before the end Alvaro Morata found his first goal with the black and white jersey. Up next for Juventus is a Champions League game in mid-week away at Atletico Madrid, which appears to be a tough one.
Napoli’s success against Sassuolo sounds like a breath of fresh air for both team and coach. The “Azzurri” flew to Reggio Emilia with the intent of bringing precious 3 points back to San Paolo Stadium and possibly ending the game with a clean sheet. They were succesfull on both accounts. Gonzalo Higuain, was supported by Lorenzo Insigne, Marek Hamsik and Jose Callejon. Walter Gargano and David Lopez formed the midfielders line. Sassuolo walked the field with three forwards, eager to revenge previous week’s poor performance. Once again Napoli started well, knitting pass after pass and finding the lead with Callejon served by Higuain. David Lopez played his best game in a skyblu shirt and Kalidou Koulibaly offered solidity in the back line helped by Raul Albiol’s experience. Therefore the visiting team was able to hold the lead despite the high pressure applied by the “Neroverdi” that couldn’t find the way through Brazilian international, Rafael. Although in need of improvement, Napoli looked balanced as a visibly satisfied Rafa Benitez told at the end of the game. The team finally took a small step towards the table’s high quarters.
Inter Milan were playing Zdenek Zeman’s Cagliari. The “Neroazzurri” didn’t seem to have started the match too brightly as they went under after only 10 minutes thanks to a goal from Marco Sau. Determined to grab the equalizer, the home team managed to do so with a bit of luck, when Pablo Daniel Osvaldo served by Rodrigo Palacio, flicked the ball in the empty net. This goal surprised the Sardinian defence that was still getting organized after a freekick. After Albin Ekdal gave the visiting team a new lead, Inter didn’t keep composure and defensive mistakes mixed with Cagliari’s ability in converting chances to shape an unbelivable score. By half-time the home side was trailing by 4 goals to 1. No other goals were scored, despite Andrea Cossu’s miss from 11 meters as shocked and upset fans left San Siro Stadium. Walter Mazzarri took the blame in press conference, for not having changed an extremely tired Nemanja Vidic, therefore leaving the defence in chaos. Next game in Florence is a good chance for “Neroazzurri” to redeem themselves… though, a risky one.
It was a tie game for AC Milan as the “Rossoneri” were not able to grab the victory in Cesena’s Dino Manuzzi Stadium. The final score of 1-1 is not to bad for Filippo Inzaghi’s side. Trailing after only 10 minutes because of Davide Succi’s goal, it was able to equalize after only nine minutes with Adil Rami’s header, served by Keisuke Honda. Left in 10 men after Christian Zapata was sent off, AC Milan took only 1 point, slowing down their climb in the rankings.
Genoa’s derby took place on Sunday evening. It was a battle from start to end, rough tackles and fouls were systematically performed on the pitch according to tradition. In the end Sampdoria claimed the victory thanks to Manolo Gabbiadini.
In other games:
1-1 between Torino and Fiorentina as well, Babacar goal replied to Quagliarella’s opener.
Chievo and Empoli shared the spoils as well, 1-1 the final score.
Ten times the ball hit the net in the Monday night games: Udinese outscored Parma 4-2 in a really entertaining display of attacking style. Antonio Di Natale by scoring a brace, led his team to another success, projecting the “Bianconeri” from Friuli to an outstanding second spot in the table. Same old same old for Parma, good up front but disastrous in defence.
Lazio grabbed an important victory by trashing Palermo 0-4 at La Favorita stadium in Siciliy. The Romans seem to have ended the early season crisis they feel into with a convicing performance. Serbian striker Filip Djordjevic scored three times, Marco Parolo once.
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