Serie A SRL Round-Up | Juventus, Napoli and AC Milan fall to stunning defeats and more
Unhappy with playing football only on the weekend, Italy and the Serie A had an action-packed mid-week set of games with quite a few shocks. Juventus, AC Milan and Napoli were stunned away from home by Bologna, Lecce and Verona respectively while Fiorentina and Genoa walked away with wins.
SPAL 1-3 Cagliari
Cagliari had a smooth outing against Spal, as they cruised to a 3-1 victory over the hosts in the Wednesday evening kick-off. The first half was evenly poised with the home side playing on level terms and the scores were unhurt until the half-hour mark. It was then Cagliari handed over the lead to Spal by virtue of an own goal but the visiting side was quick to respond and equalized 13 minutes later.
Cagliari expected things to go down a bit easier than they thought it the second period, but Spal were a hard nut to crack. Eventually thanks to a constant press, the away side finally got the lead in the 78th minute of the game. The second goal broke down Spal completely and the hosts never recovered from it, while Cagliari piled on pressure through constant attacks, which led to the third goal in the dying minutes of the game.
Even though both the sides accounted for 58 attacks each, Cagliari had 8 shots at goal, while Spal had 3. Cagliari spent a total of 21 seconds per attack, 6 more than their opponents. With the win, Cagliari are at the 7th position in the table with Spal are at the rock bottom in the 20th spot.
Fiorentina 3-0 Brescia
Fiorentina completed a clinical 3-0 victory over Brescia to stay at the 9th position in the league table. Even though many expected Fiorentina would take the driver’s seat from the moment go and take the lead, the first half of the game saw Brescia's defence stand tall and deny any chance that came their way. Both the teams went to the dugout with the scoreline unchanged and the hosts were frustrated beyond measure.
But the half-time pep talk did wonders for Fiorentina and they came out a different team in the second. It was in the 64th minute that the hosts took the lead and there was no looking back from then. Viola took charge of the game completely and netted the second and the third in the 70th and the 83th minute respectively.
The hosts was by far the best team in the contest, having taken 5 shots on target and converting 3 of them. The home team stitched up 53 dangerous attacks compared to Brescia’s 39, while they spent as many as 24 seconds on an average per attack.
Bologna 3-1 Juventus
It seems it was to be the match-week of shocks in Italy with not one but two giants of Italian football falling well short of things. While AC Milan were knocked off their perch by Lecce, Bologna did the same to Juventus with a convincing win over Maurizio Sarri’s men. The Old Lady were stunned after the hosts netted eleven minutes into the game and never recovered from that.
Instead, while they did equalise, Bologna spent a large portion torturing them into submission with the home side moving ahead a mere two minutes after Juventus equalised. But unhappy with that, they doubled their lead 14 minutes later and never looked back. Yet this was one to forget for the away side as they struggled to do much with the ball. Bologna instead spent 60% of their time in dangerous attacks with an average of 24 seconds per attack. Juventus spent a mere 40% in the same with an average of just 17 seconds per attack. Sometimes the stats do tell you everything.
US Lecce 3-0 AC Milan
In what was a shocking turn of events, relegation-threatened Lecce shocked Europa League contending AC Milan by putting 3 goals past the Italian giants. The San Siro side, playing away from home, had no idea what was happening with the hosts almost shockingly dominant. They had more total shots on goal, more off target, and even spent more time in dangerous attacks.
That’s 67% as compared to Milan’s 33% with 63 dangerous attacks to AC Milan’s mere 43. A shocking display from the away side despite them walking into the game in better form. They’d managed just the one loss in their last five games with Lecce losing three. However, the hosts did win two out of their last two games.
Genoa 2-0 Parma
Parma was handed a 0-2 loss by an upbeat Genoa, a side which is now four places below them in the points table. The hosts looked rock solid from the beginning, having hurled in attacks from the moment go and they were rewarded with a goal in the 7th minute itself. Instead of staging a comeback and plotting an equalizer, Parma weakened even further and the hosts dominated the first half and maintained their one-goal cushion going into the dugout.
Apart from small patches, the second half was also dominated by Genoa, but were devoid of the second goal for what seemed like a century. Knowing that the 1-0 lead was not safe, they pressed hard continuously, subsequently doubling the lead in the 88th minute to seal the deal. Overall, Genoa had 8 shots on target compared to Parma’s 3, while the hosts registered 60 dangerous attacks to their name against their opponents’ 49.
Torino 1-1 Udinese
Torino was held to a 1-1 draw at home by a jubilant Udinese side on Thursday evening. Il Toro was off the mark in the 13th minute itself, drawing first blood in the battle of two teams lying in the bottom half of the league table. Udinese pulled up its socks following the initial jolt and equalized in the 36th minute of the game, marking a strong comeback. With both sides level at the halfway stage, everything promised to be a cracker-jack of a second half.
Even though the second half was quite exciting and witnessed box to box action, neither of the teams managed to score. Torino was marginally the better side than the visitors, having taken 6 shots on target, creating a total of 60 dangerous attacks and spent 18 seconds per attack. Udinese had 5 shots on target and accounted for 53 dangerous attacks, averaging 13 seconds per move.
Inter Milan 4-0 Sassuolo
This game was anything but simple for the Nerazzurri especially with Saussolo putting up a fight for large parts of the first half. But in the end, once Inter Milan netted the first goal past the away side, there was no let-up from the hosts and they dominated the game. The statistics all but prove that with Inter managing 15 shots on goal, eight off target and seven on target.
In comparison, however, Saussolo only managed six on goal but did force five saves which should have theoretically been finished. That combined with the fact that they only spent 32% in dangerous attacks for a total of 49 dangerous moves at an average of 13 seconds per attack, meant that they never really threatened the hosts.
AS Roma 3-1 Sampdoria
By the end of the first half, the game was all but over and done with. Roma had pummelled three goals past a hapless Sampdoria side with the away side struggling to cope up with their hosts’ lethality in front of goal. Roma had six shots on goal in the opening half and scored three goals while Sampdoria had seven shots on goal and put six on target.
Yet, with form, luck and everything else on Roma’s side the stats were spread out between both teams. Both sides managed 13 shots on goal in total but Sampdoria had 7 on target as compared to Roma’s 6 with five corners and forced six saves. But Roma spent 58% of their time in dangerous attacks with an average of 17 seconds per attack. And while the away side did pull one goal back it was never enough.
Verona 2-1 SSC Napoli
Another sensational loss in the Serie A with Napoli falling to Verona despite the away side pulling a late goal back. But it proved to be far too much for a lacklustre Napoli who despite walking into the game in better form, struggled to do much with the ball. They dominated the shot count in the second half, but it was Verona’s first-half performance that saw them walk away as winners.
They punished Napoli for handing them any chances as they found the target with half of the four shots on goal and netted one goal. But more importantly, they doubled their lead in the second half and made sure that despite nine shots on goal, and just three on target, Napoli wouldn’t walk away with a win.
