Results from round 34:
Serie A table:
Lukic shines as Torino finally win at home
Torino got their first home win in three months, after having enjoyed a much more prolific home record in the first-half of the season. Sasa Lukic scored a brace against Spezia to set the score 2-1 in favour of the Granata.
Lukic returned to goalscoring ways after seven months and put Torino just three points short of Sassuolo, at the time of their game, with both teams having played 33 matches.
Ivan Juric’s last realistic target could be to move in front of the Neroverdi to finish in the top 10.
The Granata have a great defensive record, only having conceded 32 goals, six more than the league’s best defence. Rey Manaj’s 94th minute penalty wasn’t enough to deny a long-awaited home win.
Embed from Getty ImagesAtalanta resurge, as Venezia crumble towards the bottom
Venezia’s verdict edges closer and closer, as the Lagunari drop to last place on the table, with the contribution of Salernitana’s win in their game in hand. Thomas Henry’s opener just minutes in proved to be an illusion, as it was disallowed for offside.
The belief to beat a struggling Atalanta side was suppressed with their talismans. As in form in the first part of the season, as absent in the second-half, Mario Pasalic, Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel all scored.
This was Zapata’s first goal after missing three months due to an injury, and Pasalic’s first in two months, bringing his tally to 10 in the league, his personal best.
This meant the 3-1 (Domen Crnigoj scored late) was Venezia’s eighth consecutive defeat. The situation is tragic, as the Venezia fans are beginning to lose hope in their side, even chanting “We will go back to Serie B!” during the match.
Inter thrash Roma (again) and march on
With another show of strength, after a Coppa Italia 3-0 win in a Milan derby, Inter got their fourth consecutive league win. On paper, this was their hardest clash until the end of the season.
Arguably, playing Roma might prove easier than struggling sides like Cagliari and Sampdoria, who will fight their heart out to avoid relegation against Inter in the coming matches. This was evident as, once Denzel Dumfries scored the first goal, Inter made it look even too easy against Jose Mourinho’s side.
Marcelo Brozovic and Lautaro Martinez put the game in the bag, in what was Inter’s third win over Roma this season, the first time they get full points against the Giallorossi since 1997/98.
Caprari denies his former side late on
Sampdoria got their first away points under Marco Giampaolo, but a win, which would have meant a significant step towards survival, was denied by former player Gianluca Caprari.
Caprari was a Sampdoria player for three years, but struggled to leave his mark. He was still owned by Sampdoria after a series of loans, before Verona’s survival meant the clause with the option to buy was enforced by the Gialloblu.
Francesco Caputo’s goal from the rebound of his saved penalty wasn’t enough, as Sampdoria have to prepare for a terrible final run of games. Genoa (derby) is the first hurdle, before Lazio, Fiorentina and Inter.
Embed from Getty ImagesSalernitana’s hope in the miracle is ever more realistic
A stoic, yet unexpected, third consecutive win arrived for Salernitana, who beat 2-1 Fiorentina to put themselves three points short of Cagliari.
Captain Milan Djuric broke the deadlock in a first-half that saw Salernitana dominate and miss a series of chances. Federico Bonazzoli scored the 2-1, cancelling out Riccardo Saponara’s equaliser, with a massive gift from Igor.
It’s a wasted chance for Fiorentina, who abandon the possibility to finish in the top four. In contrast, Salernitana fly high, winning three consecutive games in Serie A for the first time in their history.
Thoughts inevitably go back to when Davide Nicola, now in charge of Salernitana, saved Crotone in the 2016-17 season. The Pitagorici had 14 points from their first 29 games, sitting eight points shy of 17th place. They ended up scoring 20 points in their final nine to stay up.
Crazy scenes as Napoli’s title challenge fades at Empoli
79 minutes inside the game, Napoli were comfortably winning 2-0 against an Empoli side winless in 16 games (curiously, their last win was just against Napoli).
Just nine minutes later, Empoli incredibly held the upper hand, with Andrea Pinamonti the star, scoring two goals, following one by Liam Henderson. Incredibly, Napoli were beaten 3-2 and everyone was left in shock at the Stadio Castellani.
With just a point in their last three games, Napoli suffered a shocking fate, as the 34 years wait for a league title is looking to extend even more. The last time they lost a game after being 2-0 up was March 1942.
Bologna and Udinese draw for the fifth consecutive time
Sitting in 12th and 13th place, comfortably ahead of the relegation zone, Bologna and Udinese came to the fifth consecutive head-to-head draw.
Aaron Hickey scored Bologna’s fastest of the season inside six minutes. The Scottish full-back wasn’t included in the starting line-up, but stood up following an injury for Mitchell Dijks.
Destiny Udogie and Isaac Success overturned the result, before Nicola Sansone put an end to an emotional game.
Genoa spice up the relegation fight
A last-minute goal by Milan Badelj had huge repercussions in the fight for permanence in the Serie A. Genoa beat Cagliari 1-0 to close to within three points of the Sardinians.
Five teams are now included in eight points, with still four head-to-head games remaining, starting from the Derby della Lanterna on April, 30.
It ended in disappointment for Cagliari, with their sixth defeat in the last seven matches. For Genoa, it was the seventh clean sheet in just 12 games with coach Alexander Blessin.
Embed from Getty ImagesHeroic Tonali pushes Milan towards glory
A final run of games involving Lazio, Fiorentina, Verona, Atalanta and Sassuolo had doubters giving little hope to Milan in the fight for the title.
The Rossoneri went down against Lazio within four minutes, but Olivier Giroud and Sandro Tonali, in stoppage time, handed their team such an important win.
It was one of those moments that can change an ending to a season, and it ensured Milan remained at the top of the table.
Inter are warned: their city rivals will fight until the end and, for the moment, still look at them from the top.
Moise Kean gets a defining goal for Juventus’ season
After starting off with two points in the first four games, Juventus seemingly locked their place in next year’s Champions League with a 2-1 win over Sassuolo.
The Bianconeri closed the gap to within a point of struggling Napoli and their ambitions might be to push for a third place which seemed far out of their reach at the beginning of the season.
Giacomo Raspadori scored first for the Neroverdi, but Paulo Dybala and Moise Kean set the score Juventus’ way
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