Roma had a pretty easy afternoon in the Roman sun helped greatly by some pretty amateur Udinese defending. Goals from Dzeko and El Shaarawy had Roma up 3-0 at half time cruising to victory although it wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests. Had it not been for some school girl defending in some key moments, Udinese may have been in the game, sadly it did not pan out that way and only a last minute consolation goal from Jens Stryger made the scoreline look a bit more respectable. Roma also missed a penalty. Can some one please explain to me what the f*** Perotti was thinking with that walk up penalty which hit the post? I just don’t understand these “creative” style penalties. Sure when it comes off it makes you look great, but when it doesn’t you look like an even bigger twat. I reckon a good old fashion run up and aim for the bottom corner is the way to go. No frills football.
Everyone expected SPAL to get an ass whipping against Napoli this weekend. They didn’t. Schiattarella scored a great opening goal for the home side only for Napoli to equalize almost immediately through Insigne in the 14th minute. Napoli had a s*** load of possession and chances as SPAL hung on for dear life but they broke in the 71st minute and Callejon scored a bullet header. An outstanding free kick from Viviani gave SPAL hopes of a dream result, to be honest Pepe Reina should have done better, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Ghoulam was allowed a free run through midfield, shot from the edge of the box and it rolled into the bottom corner. A bit cruel considering SPAL put in so much effort, but in the end Napoli’s quality and dominance sealed the win. Good news if you are a SPAL fan however, if they continue to fight like this week in week out I think they will have a decent chance of staying up.
In the Turin derby Torino were always going to have to play out of their slightly tanned and somewhat oily Italian skins to get anything out of this game, but when one of their dumb ass defenders, obviously completely overwhelmed by the occasion picks up two yellow cards in the first 25 minutes, you know its game over then and there. Shame on you Daniele Baselli. Juventus’ quality on the ball in midfield and sublime finishing skills made it an easy win for the bianconeri. Plus they have Paulo Dybala. WOOOOW. This guy is awesome. Juventus fans must be creaming in their jockeys watching this guy play every week. Outstanding. My question is how long before Real Madrid or Barcelona come knocking. Won’t be long. And lets be honest whatever happens Juventus will win. If he stays they keep one of the worlds best, if he goes, in today’s market they will get €150 million. That is what you call the proverbial win/win.
Oh how the mighty have fallen. That is how I feel when I see the situation with AC Milan these days and believe me I truly sympathize. As with Liverpool in England long gone are the days when AC Milan were considered one of the greats of Italy and Europe. They have indeed fallen quite dramatically. And this weekends result will not have lifted the fans spirits one tiny bit. Lets be crystal clear here. Sampdoria were the better side by far on the day, and Duvan Zapata was immense. He absolutely tortured the Milan defence, Guantanamo style, not giving them a moments rest. He scored one, set one up and helped his side to an important win. Milan have a decent side, but it is not outstanding. Vincenzo Montella certainly has his work cut out for him if he is to get them challenging at the top again in the near future.
On the other side of Milan, Inter have had a storming start to the season. Unbeaten in the first six game and the best defensive record in the league so far, Luciano Spaletti seems to have greased the wheels at the club and has the machine working well. Don’t be fooled though, it was not an easy afternoon against Genoa. Inter did have the majority of possession and some good chances, but Genoa also had chances to nick a goal. It actually took 87 minutes for Inter to score in this tightly fought match, from a corner, but it is getting results from these difficult games that turn a good team into a great one. There is finally much optimism for Inter fans. I still don’t see them getting above Juve or Napoli this season, but I can see them in a head to head battle with Roma for 3rd place. And a huge positive to all this is finally in Italy we could have an decent title race. Hopefully someone will finally knock Juventus off their perch. No offence Juve fans, but that will be just good for football.
In other mid to lower table matches, as I predicted Chievo got a very good away win against Cagliari, Crotone managed to out muscle Serie A new boys Benevento and another impressive performance from Ciro Immobile led Lazio to an easy 3-0 win over Verona and up into 4th place in Serie A. It has also been a good start to the season for Lazio. It must be the addition of the very solid and experienced Lucas Leiva.
Late on Sunday, in what was to be honest a dreadful game of football, Sassuolo, after going down to ten men late in the game, conceded in the last minute of normal time to give Bologna all three points. The red card and the late goal the only real talking points of a game that was more likely to put you into a coma then stimulate your footballing sensory perception. In Florence it was slightly more exciting. Atalanta who had the majority of possession and looked the more dangerous had to wait until the 94th minute to rescue a point against Fiorentina. The Viola took an early lead in the match and hung on for dear life throughout a late Atalanta onslaught, but finally caved to the pressure and conceded at the death. At least a bit more excitement compared to the snooze fest in Sassuolo.
