Controversial win for Juve
Such is the rivalry between Fiorentina and Juventus, a controversial match on Friday evening could have easily been predicted. The Viola stunned the reigning champions by dominating the match and could’ve been 2-0 up before half-time. A horrendously incompetent moment of officiating saw Jordan Veretout waiting three minutes with the ball on the penalty spot before the VAR controversially overtuned the spot-kick award for offside. Then, Gil Dias hit the inside of the woodwork with a curling effort, the rebound gratefully collected by Gianluigi Buffon.
The Bianconeri went on to do what they do best, clinically taking their chances even when the run of play is against them. Max Allegri’s men only managed a 38% share of possession but former Fiorentina winger Federico Bernardeschi – who left Tuscany this summer in the most polemic of circumstances – fired in a free-kick while striker Gonzalo Higuain finished in style when given half a chance.
Milan march on
Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso took his side’s unbeaten run in the league to six matches, with four wins in the last five games after a 4-0 away victory to SPAL. This figure equals as many as the Rossoneri had managed in the previous 15 encounters, showing just how much the Coach has improved morale and team spirit in a newly-formed side that were so disjointed earlier in the season.
His desire for improvement was clear in his post-match interviews, when he called for more despite such a comprehensive victory. “We put in a good performance. The 4-0 result wasn’t unfair as such, but didn’t reflect how much we suffered when only 1-0 up,” Gattuso told Sky Italia. “The important thing is to persevere and not think all our problems have been resolved. I reminded the team of where we were two months ago, how many issues we had and pointed out this is the start, not the finish line.”
Napoli crush Lazio
Napoli restored their one point advantage at the top of the table with a stunning 4-1 win over Lazio on Saturday evening. Juventus had piled the pressure on the Partenopei with their victory over Fiorentina 24 hours earlier, and it seemed like Maurizio Sarri’s side had finally buckled when they went 1-0 down to 3rd-placed Lazio after just three minutes.
However the home side rallied, a superbly timed run from Jose Callejon leading to an equaliser just before the break, and a superb team performance in the second half saw Napoli fire another three past Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha before the final whistle blew.
“The truth is that if we play like we did in the second half, we can beat anyone,” said Sarri to reporters after the match. “If we play like in the first half, we’ll have problems.”
Inter teen saves Spalletti’s bacon
Should Inter have failed to win against Bologna, Luciano Spalletti’s side would have been coming to terms with having notched up the longest ever domestic spell without a win in the club’s history as the record stretched to nine. They were in real danger of this happening when former Nerazzurri striker Rodrigo Palacio cancelled out Eder’s early strike, but an eventual winner came from an unlikely source.
19-year-old Yann Karamoh puts Inter Milan ahead with a stunning solo strike.
His first ever goal in Serie A 🙌
19-year-old Yann Karamoh had previously made just one start for the club, having arrived on loan from French side Caen in the summer, but curled in a beautiful solo effort from distance to send all three points back home to Milan.
Roma survive early scare
Minnows Benevento took an unlikely lead at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday evening, Guilherme Costa Marques scoring after just seven minutes. Eusebio Di Francesco’s side had been struggling to score of late, but went on to crush the strugglers 5-2, despite a late substitute appearance from new Benevento signing Bacary Sagna.Napoli stay top after demolition of Lazio
