Serie A SRL Round-Up | Atalanta and Lazio in five goal thriller as Napoli lose again and more
The Serie A title race is edging towards the end but Lazio fell short against a brilliant Atalanta side which saw Juventus take back the lead with a win. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Torino and Verona fought out a tough draw but Napoli fell short with another lacklustre loss as they dropped further down.
Bologna FC 1909 2-1 SSC Napoli
Napoli were supposed to be the better side but with Bologna in better form and better shape, the side from Naples never stood a chance. From the moment go, the hosts were onto the Gilazzurri with them pummelling the Napoli goal with constant shots. The first half alone saw Bologna take nine shots on goal with four finding the target. Napoli, in comparison, took just the five shots with one on target and it proved their struggles.
That continued into the second half and while the away side picked things up and scored the opener, Bologna quickly struck back eleven minutes later with a winner coming just before full-time. It came as no surprise to anyone with the hosts showing more promise with 64 dangerous attacks and they spent 60% of their time in dangerous attacks as compared to 40% for Napoli.
Atalanta B.C. 3-2 SS Lazio
A look at the statistics and one would wonder how, Lazio failed to win the game. The away side had more shots on goal, more on target, forced more saves, had more corners and even spent more time in dangerous attacks. But Atalanta hit the target four times and they scored thrice to pull back into the game after Lazio took an early lead. Simone Inzaghi’s men took the lead less than ten minutes into the game and then dominated things for most of the first half. Yet, given the ferocity and lethality that Atalanta churns out game after game, this was going to be no different.
They equalized twelve minutes before the break and then pushed ahead into added time. But their lead wouldn’t last too long with Lazio equalizing four minutes into the second half. Parity, however, wouldn’t last long as Atalanta pushed ahead ten minutes later. While Lazio certainly tried to find their way back, nothing ever worked. Not even eight shots on goal or 63 dangerous attacks, with the hosts winning rather astutely.
U.S. Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus
For fourteen minutes, Sassuolo believed they could beat Juventus and the scoreline was certainly on their side with them leading the Old Lady. But then two goals in the space of five minutes from the away side and suddenly, Juventus walked into the break with the lead. Nothing changed in the second half with the away side adding an insurance policy eight minutes into the second half.
But somehow, this was Sassuolo’s game. The hosts had more dangerous attacks, 65 to Juventus’ 44, more corners, and had a better shots-on-target to shots-on-goal ratio. Yet, the hosts could never find the net beyond the first goal with their form walking into the game playing a part in the proceedings. They’d managed to lose four out of their last five games with one draw and it certainly showed.
Torino F.C. 2-2 Hellas Verona F.C
As 2-2 draws go this wasn’t the worst on the planet. It saw action on both sides of the half-time break, it had yellow cards, it had shots on goal and it even had two teams struggling walking into a battle they both expected to lose. Instead, they walked out with a draw although Torino should have managed to score at least two more goals.
They had 11 shots on goal but managed just five on target which is at least a little better than what Verona managed. The away side had 11 shots on goal and managed just three on target although they did spend more time in dangerous attacks (51%) as compared to Torino (49%).
UC Sampdoria 3-1 Genoa CFC
The form was on Genoa’s side. They did after all walk into the game with three wins and just one loss in their last five games. The hosts, instead, opted to walk into the game on a winless run with no wins in any of their last five games. And yet, the scoreline reads in favour of Sampdoria with them powering three goals past the away side’s defense.
That’s despite going down within the opening 15 minutes although they did manage to equalize just before half-time. That effectively changed the game with them scoring nine minutes into the restart and two minutes before the full-time whistle. Barring that, the game was level with both sides spending equal amounts of time in dangerous attacks and possession.