Results from round 30:
Serie A table:
Berardi makes it 100 in Serie A in a big Sassuolo win
After slowing down with a draw against Salernitana, Sassuolo got their fourth win in five games thanks to two goals by Domenico Berardi.
Daniele Verde equalised the winger’s penalty with a stunner, but Berardi scored his 100th goal in Serie A, before Kaan Ayhan and Gianluca Scamacca completed a 4-1 win over Spezia.
This makes Berardi the seventh most prolific player that currently plays in the division and also moves Sassuolo up to ninth. With a big final push, the Neroverdi may even hope to snatch a place in the top seven.
Portanova gives Genoa an awaited win
The drawing curse is over and Genoa break free with a hard-fought win. Manolo Portanova scored after three serious errors from Torino’s defence, but fortunes seemed to change when Leo Ostigard was sent off.
Genoa played more than an hour with a man less, but were able to resist and now, unbeaten in eight games, can start hoping of getting out of the relegation zone.
It had been six months since their last win and this may be the spark they need to keep collecting results.
Osimhen overturns Udinese and keeps Napoli in the hunt
As Inter keep to drop back, Napoli can now be considered as Milan’s main threat. They had to play a tough team like Udinese, who always show up against the big teams.
Napoli’s main man, Victor Osimhen, overturned Gerard Deulofeu’s opener, scoring two second-half goals that keep Napoli within three points of the Rossoneri.
Since coming back from his injury, Osimhen restarted to carry the team on his shoulders and keeps being the biggest hope for Luciano Spalletti’s side.
Inter’s poor run doesn’t end
Seven points in the last seven games and a points-average that resembles that of a team fighting for survival, not for winning the league.
Inter had a tough opponent in Fiorentina and were stunned early in the second-half when Lucas Torreira scored. Denzel Dumfries took just few minutes to get his side back in contention, but there were no more goals.
Inter are averaging 1.22 goals per game, after getting 2.55 in the first 20. It’s an awful situation for Simone Inzaghi, who now has arguably the toughest opponent of all coming up: Juventus, who are on a 16 games unbeaten run.
Embed from Getty ImagesClinical Milan get another 1-0 win
Winning is all that matters and Milan clearly know. Their third consecutive 1-0 is once again a result of solid defence and great will to win, something that perhaps their city rivals don’t have.
Ismael Bennacer scored a beautiful volley to help his side win against Cagliari, who will lament hitting the crossbar on the last minute.
It’s a clear signal that Milan know how to bring the three points home in what is the toughest period of the season. Maintaining a three points advantage on Napoli and a six on Inter, with eight games left, is a sign that the target is getting closer than ever.
Caputo is on the end of Venezia’s mistakes
A crucial win for Paolo Zanetti’s side ends in disappointment, with Venezia losing 2-0 at home to Sampdoria and encountering their eighth defeat in the last 11 games.
Sampdoria move up seven points in front of the Lagunari, who threw away their chances first when goalkeeper Niki Maenpaa lost the ball in the penalty area and Francesco Caputo scored.
Minutes later, Caputo scored again when Venezia again lost the ball at the back. It was a shocking mistake that left Zanetti lost for words. The coach even came face to face with Thomas Henry, after the striker was sent off for dissent.
Next game against Spezia will be almost all or nothing.
Dybala scores as his contract debate goes on
The game was over after five minutes for Salernitana, who soon went down on the score against Juventus. It was Paulo Dybala who scored, before going on to dominate the game.
Dybala was very active, but was denied more goals by Luigi Sepe. It was no problem for the Bianconeri, who scored a second with Dusan Vlahovic and managed the game until the end.
They now closed to within one point of Inter, before next game’s Derby d’Italia. It will be an enormous chance for them to move in front, after it seemed unthinkable just months ago.
Empoli and Verona hold back each other
Empoli’s first win of 2022 still didn’t arrive, despite being up on the score until late on.
Verona could lament their big chance, when Giovanni Simeone missed a penalty, which was retaken due to players being in the box before the kick. Simeone had a second chance but struck the post.
Verona equalised with a great goal by Matteo Cancellieri, but this result leaves them unhappy, given that most likely they are forced to abandon the fight for the top seven.
Embed from Getty ImagesRoma are dominant in the derby
One Derby della Capitale win apiece this season, but Roma’s sumptuous 3-0 will live long in the memory of this game.
Tammy Abraham scored within a minute when a corner rebounded straight off the crossbar and allowed him to tap in. The English striker was on the scoresheet again after 20 minutes and Roma completed their dominant first-half with Lorenzo Pellegrini’s astonishing strike.
The result moves Roma back in front of Lazio, as the two sides keep battling each other in the table.
Debutant Cisse keeps Atalanta in fifth
A new fabulous sports story was added to the history books. 18-year-old Moustapha Cisse scored on his debut to give Atalanta all the three points against Bologna.
Atalanta had only a win in their last eight league games and were dominated by Bologna, who missed an infinite series of chances and lost in the most classical of ways with a late goal by their opponents.
The Guinean striker played in a team of refugees in Italy’s eighth division until January. He was scouted by Atalanta who made him join the youth team and called him up given the emergency in front.
Cisse moved when he was 16-year-old, following his father’s death and only three months after being spotted, scored his first professional goal. Football is just amazing.
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