The matchday 5 of Serie A happened this Tuesday and Wednesday, with all the Italian topflight teams in action. There are now only two unbeaten teams in Serie A – Inter and Juventus – since Roma got surprised in the Olimpico, by last year’s 3rd placed side, Atalanta.
Meanwhile, Napoli had one of those game that we think only happens in videogames: 5 shots on target against 1, but in the end, the victory smiled to Cagliari. In the bottom, Sampdoria and SPAL buried themselves even more.
Catch up on the latest news of Serie A.
D’Ambrosio goal enough to make it 5 in 5
Antonio Conte’s Internazionale continues unstoppable on the top of Serie A, with 5 wins in 5 games. After beating their city rivals AC Milan, they hosted Lazio for what was predicted to be a fairly contested classic.
Inter opened the deadlock with 23 minutes on the clock when Biraghi made a cross into the box and fullback D’Ambrosio appeared to confirm the goal.
The star of the show, however, would be the Serbian goalkeeper Handanovic. Inter’s number 1 was making his 300th appearance for the club and he had an exhibition to remember.
A fingertip save to an almost perfect curled effort from Correa was just one of the highlights of the evening.
In the second half, it was Strakosha making two consecutive stops to deny Inter another goal. The Milanese said continues with a perfect winning streak, having only conceded 1 goal in their 5 games.
Pjanic completes Juventus comeback over Brescia
With Cristiano Ronaldo recovering from an abductor injury, Juventus went to Brescia, to face the promoted side. This was the first game for Brescia’s most buzzed signing, Mario Balotelli, although it was one of his teammates who was in the spotlight.
Alfredo Donnarumma made it 4 goals in 5 games for Brescia, opening the score with just 4 minutes played. A fantastic shot outside the box that betrayed goalkeeper Szczesny and surprised the ‘Bianconeri’ early in the game.
Juventus would level before the break, with defender Jhon Chancellor scoring an own goal after a corner kick to put the score 1-1.
Chancellor would redeem himself, clearing a ball in the goal line and stopping Juventus to make it 2-1. The second goal for the ‘Old Lady’ would arrive anyway, by Miralem Pjanic. Dybala hit a free-kick into the wall and the Bosnian hit it in the rebound.
Another struggling match, but another victory for Juventus, who continue undefeated in the league, two points away from Inter.
Napoli loses, despite dominating the game
It was one of those days for Napoli, who received Cagliari in the San Paolo and were always the strongest side. Ancelotti men had the most chances on target (5), but most of them were denied by Robin Olsen, Cagliari’s keeper, or the woodwork.
Mertens tried over and over, but it was just not his day. In the last breath, however, substitute Lucas Castro, scored for Cagliari, answering a cross with a header. The team from Sardinia had 1 single shot on target, but it was enough for them to take the 3 points.
Napoli loses space against the leading duo, dropping to 5th, while Cagliari jumps ahead of them, to 4th place.
Roma loses invincibility with defeat at the Olimpico
It had been a positive start of the season for Roma and their new coach Paulo Fonseca. The team had 2 draws and 2 wins, besides a 4-0 victory in the Europa League group stages. However, the fairytale ruined this Wednesday, with Atalanta inflicting the first defeat to the ‘Giallorossi’.
Zaniolo had a superb chance to put Roma ahead, but the young Italian took too much time and lost what would be a crucial goal. Atalanta did not make the same mistake and once Zapata found himself with a goal chance, he did not waste it, with a supreme finish.
Before the end of the match, De Roon would make it 0-2 for Atalanta, heading a loose ball near Pau Lopez’s goal. With a good exhibition and another 3 points, Atalanta shows that the thrashing they suffered in their Champions League group debut is already in the past.
While the Bergamo team climb to 3rd in Serie A table, Roma goes down to 6th place.
Fiorentina get their first win of the season
Four matches have passed and Fiorentina had yet to win a match. Despite the incredible signings of Ribery, with the addition of Kevin Prince Boateng and Pulgar too, the ‘Viola’ side was not able to get the 3 points so far.
It was precisely Ribery who designed their first goal against Sampdoria this Wednesday, before crossing to Pezzella make it 1-0. The game would get slightly easier for Fiorentina after half time, when former Barcelona defender Jeison Murillo got sent off, with a double yellow card.
Taking advantage of playing against 10-men, Fiorentina stroke the second, with Chiesa ending his goal drought. The prolific Italian attacker scored his first goal of the season and Vincenzo Montella’s squad seemed headed for a comfortable victory.
Still, they would have to suffer, as Bonnazzolla made it 2-1 shortly after, after a poorly defended corner kick. It was enough for Fiorentina to secure their first 3 points, although they are dangerously near the relegation places (17th).
Meanwhile, Sampdoria is bottom last, besides their last week’s win.
Wins for Lecce and Parma
Two sides who have been struggling to win matches are Lecce and Parma, who had only one victory each: Lecce over Torino and Parma against Udinese. They both got a push during their midweek clashes, with wins against SPAL and Sassuolo.
Sassuolo struggled to spot the pace of veteran winger Gervinho. The Ivorian striker actually scored, but the goal was disallowed for an early foul, by the video referee.
Once again, in the second half, Gervinho was denied a goal, now for offside. Parma then had a penalty defended by Consigli. They only broke the deadlock, ironically, with an own goal of Bourabia, after a deflected header.
Parma climb to 11th, while Sassuolo drops to 14th.
Meanwhile, promoted side Lecce sought for a win against bottom side SPAL. Mancosu opened the score, converting a penalty after Babacar was fouled in the fox.
Despite the early lead, they conceded the equalizer almost immediately, when Di Francesco scored from outside the box for SPAL.
Calderoni put Lecce back in front with a deflected shot, before Mancosu sealing the win, converting another penalty. 1-3 and Lecce gets safely into 13th position, while SPAL is 19th.
Two 0-0 draws in the midweek matchday
Bologna continues their positive start of the season, even though they lost in the weekend. They were able to hold onto a 0-0 draw with Genoa, securing a point and being now in 7th.
In the Luigi Ferrari, there were a couple of wasted chances and the keepers were on focus, as they kept both clean sheets. Genoa is now 15th.
In the other goalless draw, Udinese drew against Hellas Verona, to finally put a stop in their 3 consecutive losses. Since their win against AC Milan, in the first matchday, that Udinese does not win a game and has only now got a point again.
Meanwhile, Hellas Verona have shown the same heart and spirit they did when they stood up against Juventus last weekend. They were stopped by the gloves of Juan Musso, Udinese keeper and certainly the man of the match.
Belotti scores twice to make come back against Milan
The midweek matchday 5 of Serie A schedule was completed this Thursday, with Torino facing AC Milan at home.
Piatek put the visitors ahead, from the penalty spot. However, in the second half, Belotti scored twice for Torino, the second of which a bicycle kick, to put the hosts back in front.
This is the second defeat in a row for AC Milan, after losing against Internazionale on the weekend. Milan is now in 13th place and Torino jumped to 6th.
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