Results from round 11:
Serie A table:
Immobile reaches Piola, but Atalanta equalise late
It could have been an amazing weekend for Ciro Immobile, scoring his 159th Lazio goal and matching an all-time legend like Silvio Piola.
Pedro scored first, proving he is in great form, but Duvan Zapata equalised in the first-half’s stoppage time.
Immobile made it 2-1, setting an important milestone and Lazio looked set to coronate their convincing performance, only for Marten De Roon to equalise on the last minute available.
Simeone’s golden touch brings Juventus down
Giovanni Simeone’s seventh and eighth goals in the last six games meant Verona found themselves up 2-0 after 15 minutes against a desolate Juventus side.
The last player to have scored a brace against Juventus in the first 15 minutes had been Simeone in 2016. Ever since the striker joined the Serie A, no player has scored more goals than him against the Bianconeri.
On this special occasion, the Argentinian tapped in the first goal, before firebolting the ball in the top corner. Juventus were dominated by a side that, since Igor Tudor joined, went from being one of the worst attacks to the best one.
Four wins (three of which against Roma, Juventus and Lazio), only one defeat (at San Siro) and 21 goals scored in eight games. Not even Weston McKennie’s 80th minute goal could deny this returning Verona side.
Torino bring Roberto D’Aversa trouble
Torino seem to have put their troubles behind and finally take part in a campaign that won’t involve a serious relegation scrap.
The same cannot be said for Sampdoria, who, after returning in the top 10 with Claudio Ranieri, only scored nine points in 11 matches with D’Aversa.
Ironically, the first goal was scored by Dennis Praet, a former Sampdoria man who doesn’t score very often (eight goals in the last six seasons), before Wilfred Singo and Andrea Belotti’s 100th Serie A goal put an end to the match.
Joaquin Correa finds his form back
Inter get all three points against Udinese, playing really well, but finding it very hard to score for the first hour of the match.
It was down to Correa, who finally returned on the scoresheet after not having scored or assisted since his splendid debut in August, in which he scored two goals.
Correa’s curious statistic is that in the last four occasions in which he found the net in a game, he always went on to score two goals.
Genoa and Venezia can’t improve their delicate situation
No goals and a point apiece for Genoa and Venezia, who remain in a delicate part of the table.
Davide Ballardini, especially, is a manager at risk, after having done so well in the final part of 2020/21.
Genoa are winless in eight matches, whilst Venezia only got one in the same period of time.
Vlahovic brings Fiorentina in sight of the top four
A hat-trick for the Serbian striker gives Fiorentina their sixth win in 11 games and helps them move past Spezia with an assertive 3-0.
Vincenzo Italiano is proving to be capable of exceeding expectations after last year’s miracle with Spezia and Fiorentina seem to have a realistic chance to fight for the top seven.
Vlahovic reaches 25 goals in 2021, being the player in Europe with the third most amount behind two great strikers such as Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandoswki. The Serbian will likely leave at the end of the year, but Fiorentina have to be proud of their boy.
Empoli doing incredibly well with a surprise result
Empoli lost six games this season, but won all the others, meaning they are tied in eighth place with Hellas Verona and Juventus.
At the Mapei Stadium, it was actually Sassuolo who dominated large parts of the game and were very wasteful after Lorenzo Tonelli’s own-goal brought them in front.
Sassuolo had some incredible chances, but it still looked like they could pull it off. However, the final 10 minutes were hectic, with Empoli pulling a surprise come-back.
Napoli overcome Salernitana’s resistance
For the first Serie A derby between these two sides in 73 years, Napoli win against Salernitana in what was a stoic performance from Stefano Colantuono’s side, who kept the Partenopei quiet for a lot of time.
Playing without Victor Osimhen and Lorenzo Insigne, Napoli evidently had some problems in the final third, ending the first-half without a shot on goal.
However, Salernitana’s resistance eventually fell at the 61st minute, when Piotr Zielinski’s strike put Napoli in front and gave them all three points to make it 31 in 11 games.
Unstoppable Milan conquer the Stadio Olimpico
Two goals from set-pieces, both of which had Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contribution, saw Milan respond to Napoli’s earlier win and match them at the top of the table.
Ibrahimovic wonderfully stroke in a free-kick in the first-half and later gained the penalty which saw Milan lead by two goals.
Theo Hernandez was sent off, as the referee was criticised for his management (he will be suspended after this performance), as Roma were also denied a penalty.
The Giallorossi struggled to get past a defence perfectly led by Simon Kjaer and it was only in stoppage time that former Milan man Stephan El Shaarawy could produce a goal that gave futile hope.
Bologna at their best, Cagliari at their worst
A 2-0 win gives Bologna their best start since 2003, climbing to 15 points and being one of four teams occupying eighth place.
Sinisa Mihajlovic’s squad moved past Cagliari with a well constructed goal from Lorenzo De Silvestri, with Marko Arnautovic making it two in stoppage time.
Cagliari remain stuck in last place, only twice having gained less points in their opening 11 matches than the six they got in 2021/22.
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