The Serie A table suffered some changes in the past weekend, as Juventus dropped points on their visit to Sassuolo. The ‘Bianconeri’ had to come from behind and only managed a draw.
Meanwhile, Inter took the opportunity, doing their job at home against SPAL. They are now the leaders of Serie A, with 1 point more than Juventus.
Check out all the action from matchday 14.
Juventus 2 x 2 Sassuolo
It looked like another cruising afternoon for Juventus in the Serie A schedule, as they hosted Sassuolo. The ‘Bianconeri’ opened the score inside the first 20 minutes, through a long shot effort from Bonucci.
But, just 2 minutes later, Jeremy Boga decided to take a superb combination with Caputo, ending up with a perfect chip to Buffon. Boga, who is a Chelsea loanee, scored his 4th goal of the season.
After halftime, all that was bad went worse for Juventus. A back pass from De Ligt and a blunder from Buffon, allowed Caputo to make the comeback for Sassuolo.
Cristiano Ronaldo was close to scoring his first free-kick of the season, but he was supremely denied by debutant teenager Stefano Turati. The 18-year-old jumped to save the Portuguese curled effort.
Later on, Dybala was fouled inside the box and the ref had no doubts and he pointed to the penalty kick. This time Turati was unable to stop Ronaldo’s goal, and the game drew into 2×2.
Juventus broke their winning streak that lasted into 4 games and dropped to 2nd place of Serie A. Their next match is against 3rd placed Lazio.
Inter Milan 2 x 1 SPAL
After Juventus was held at home against Sassuolo, Inter hosted SPAL knowing a victory would take them to the lead. SPAL, who are in the relegation zone, looked like an easy victim and Inter cruised through.
Lautaro Martinez opened the active following the first quarter of the match. He doubled it before halftime with a well-placed header, after an assist from Candreva.
In the second half, SPAL surprised with a beautifully crafted goal by Valoti. Scoring his first goal of the season, the SPAL midfielder dribbled past 3 defenders and finished it.
However, it was Inter who was closer to score the third afterward. Lautaro had 2 chances to score the hat trick, but both were well denied by Berisha.
The ‘Nerazzurri’ return to the top of the table, with 5 wins in the last 5 games.
Lazio 3 x 0 Udinese
Trying to keep their unbelievable consistent form, Lazio hosted Udinese, who on the other hand is on the relegation places. They cruised past the Udine side and cemented their 3rd place in the league.
Luis Alberto firstly obligated Juan Musso to a tremendous save, following a free-kick. But it would be Ciro Immobile to open the hostilities, shooting it through after a solo work from Milinkovic-Savic.
The Lazio striker is in the form of his life and doubled the Roman team’s lead minutes later. Joaquin Correa fell in the box, Immobile stepped to convert the penalty kick and made his 17th goal of the season in 14 games. He is now the player with more goals in all the top 5 leagues in Europe.
Immobile had a chance for a hattrick when Correa once again was tripped by Udinese’s defenders. Instead, he gave away the chance to Luis Alberto, who made no mistake and tripled the advantage.
6 consecutive victories for Lazio and they are now 2 points closer to the second-placed Juventus.
Hellas Verona 1 x 3 AS Roma
Roma got back on track last weekend with a victory over Brescia and now they visited Verona looking for back to back wins.
Paulo Fonseca’s team got the lead early on this match when Justin Kluivert received a long through ball from Pellegrini and did not blink in front of the goal.
Hellas Verona stroke back immediately, when Faraoni found the perfect opportunity to head it in front of Pau Lopez.
The ‘gialorrossi’ got back in front through Perotti, who converted a penalty kick, after Dzeko was blatantly pulled in the box.
Mkhitaryan finished the job for Roma, after a lovely team play, that ended with the Armenian second goal this season for Roma.
After losing their place in the top 4, Roma seems back on track and is 5th, leveled in points with Cagliari.
Cagliari 4 x 3 Sampdoria
Sampdoria is hanging firmly in their battle against the relegation zone, ever since the appointment of Claudio Ranieri. They did not lose in the last 4 matches and accounted for 2 victories and 2 draws.
However, they faced now one of the most inform teams of the league: Cagliari. The Sardinians are still holding on to the top 4 and prior to this game were 10 games unbeaten (last time they lost was on 1st of September, against Inter).
The last match, however, they drew 2×2 in a dramatic battle against Lecce where they had 2 players sent off. Rafael, who replaced Robin Olsen after the Danish keeper was suspended for 4 games, made an early good impression defending a bicycle kick from Quagliarella.
However, the veteran Italian striker and last season’s Serie A top scorer finally broke his curse. Quagliarella, who didn’t score since September, fired Sampdoria through after Pellegrini fouled Gabbiadini in the area.
It looked like Sampdoria was heading for a surprising win, especially when Gaston Ramirez celebrated his own birthday with a goal.
Second half with 5 more goals
Cagliari was in need of a hero and who else but Serie A’s best player of November, Nainggolan. The captain, who arrived at the team this Summer, fired a bullet shot from outside the box and gave Cagliari some breathing space.
There was no time to breathe though, as Quagliarella gave back the two-goal advantage seconds later after Nainggolan’s goal. A great volley and a first touch finish.
The match was far from done and 4 minutes later Joao Pedro scored Cagliari’s second, with his backheel. Just 2 minutes later, the Brazilian repeated it and leveled the game, fixing the result in 3×3.
The home side would crown the comeback with a winning goal in the last seconds of extra time. Alberto Cerri jumped from the bench to score with a header and give the 3 points to Cagliari.
A great match for any football enthusiast and Cagliari is now 11 games unbeaten, holding on to the 4th place.
Parma 0 x 1 AC Milan
Milan still searched for the first victory under Stefano Pioli, in a moment when the ‘rossoneri’ are in the lowest side of the table. Their opponent this time was Parma, who is ahead of them
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