Results from round 17:
Serie A table:
Gabbiadini gives Sampdoria a much-needed derby win
Manolo Gabbiadini is on fire and with his third goal in a row, he started Sampdoria’s show against Genoa, winning the derby 3-1. Genoa are in a desperate situation, even if they finally scored a goal, the first one of Andriy Shevchenko’s five matches in charge.
Gabbiadini was the protagonist of a bizarre incident, with Sampdoria’s final goal initially given as offside and the striker being subbed off whilst VAR were checking.
As a result, he had to celebrate from the bench, with spectacular scenes seeing all the players hugging him, even though it was later awarded as an own goal.
Roberto D’Aversa gets his first Derby della Lanterna win, a match he shouldn’t even have been on, as president Massimo Ferrero was travelling to Milan to sign a new manager, when he was suddenly arrested and the discussion fell through.
Vlahovic edges closer to a record
Fiorentina keep marching on, moving up to fifth with a dominant win over Salernitana. The score said 4-0, with Dusan Vlahovic netting twice.
The Serbian striker is the cherry on top of a cake that is made up by 11 players perfectly managed by Vincenzo Italiano, who are currently stunning Italian football with the way they play.
Vlahovic moves up to 32 Serie A goals in 2021, one short of the highest tally recorded in the last 60 years. Let’s bear in mind that the recordman is nobody other than Cristiano Ronaldo (33) and that the Serbian is only 21-years-old.
Juventus struggle against newly-promoted sides
A disappointing draw against Venezia continues Juventus’s worst start in 22 years. The Bianconeri were coming off three consecutive wins and a first-place in their Champions League group, but their march halted.
It all looked easy when Alvaro Morata put them in front, but Mattia Aramu equalised, with Venezia showing they can take their chances to try and remain in the Serie A for next season.
Juventus only won twice in their last seven meetings away against newly-promoted sides which goes to show how much they struggled in the last few years compared to their dominance under Massimiliano Allegri’s first spell.
Milan snatch a vital point in stoppage time
An Italian say states that two clues prove a point and Milan’s difficult draw with Udinese comes after seven points in the previous four games. (Just two wins against relegation placed Salernitana and Genoa).
Milan are living a difficult moment and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s equaliser in stoppage time may just help the Rossoneri not fall into a loop of poor results.
It will be up to Stefano Pioli to ensure Milan turn their situation around, as next games sees them take on Napoli. This may well cause one of the two teams to drop permanently from the title race.
Torino want to join the top 10 fight
Ivan Juric’s men stop Bologna’s charge for Europe and close the gap to the top 10, with the pack now seeing six teams in four points.
Antonio Sanabria finally returned to the scoresheet and Lukasz Skorupski was called up multiple times to prevent the Granata move up by two goals. Skorupski eventually was the unfortunate protagonist of an own-goal, after a shot was deflected his way by Adama Soumaoro.
Only four teams have a better home record than Torino and the Granata will have to try their best to add more points in away games.
Unstoppable Atalanta overturn Verona
Giovanni Simeone’s opener that put Verona in front gave hopes to Atalanta’s rivals that La Dea may finally be stopped.
After Mario Pasalic hit the post, two midfielders put the score Atalanta’s way, with Aleksei Miranchuk and Temu Koopmeiners shooting Atalanta to third place.
Six consecutive wins for Atalanta show they are up for the title challenge and an upcoming game against Roma may be an important test to see if Gian Piero Gasperini’s men can really go all the way.
If you need a come-back, call Giacomo Raspadori
Sassuolo are finally picking back up some form and they are proving they can take points off the big teams, stopping Lazio with a 2-1.
Mattia Zaccagni finally got his first goal for Lazio, but his day was ruined, as the Neroverdi overturned it, dropping the Biancocelesti to ninth.
Curiously enough, all his three goals in 2021/22 came against Sassuolo, with the winger previously scoring a brace in August when playing for Verona.
Domenico Berardi’s wondergoal pulled one back, before Giacomo Raspadori handed Sassuolo the win, days after he helped Sassuolo come back against Spezia.
Empoli’s wonderful run denies Napoli
After leading the Serie A so perfectly with 11 wins in the first 12 games, Napoli only got four points in the last five and now the situation looks very worrying for the Partenopei.
Empoli came at the Stadio Maradona to win all three points and Napoli will certainly regret the two occasions in which they hit the woodwork, plus Patrick Cutrone’s goal, which was incredibly fortuitous.
Napoli had a seven points advantage on Inter five games ago, now they are chasing by four points and if they don’t manage to claim all three points against Milan at the San Siro, this season may just turn from a dream to a nightmare.
It’s Inter’s time to be at the top
The last three matchdays ended with three different clubs at the top of the table and this time it’s Inter’s turn to take advantage of their opponent’s slips and return to first place.
It’s a chase that’s looked a bit too easy in the recent games, in which Inter have appeared unstoppable and it showed against Cagliari, with a 4-0 win that saw goalkeeper Alessio Cragno called up to make 11 saves.
Inter’s numbers improved a lot recently, winning seven of the last eight games with six clean sheets, after only registering one in the opening nine matches.
Roma mount on Spezia’s trouble
Roma return to winning ways thanks to two defenders, Chris Smalling and Roger Ibanez, scoring a goal each from the development of a corner-kick.
It is the first time, since Opta records this data, that an Englishman scores with a fellow countryman assisting him, Tammy Abraham in this case.
Youngster Felix Afena-Gyan lived a troubled night on his return to the pitch. The Ghanian scored, but his goal was disallowed for handball and he was later sent off given he had already been booked.
Spezia are troubled and can only resist outside of the relegation zone due to the difficulties of other teams.
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