Serie A SRL Round-Up | Lazio, Verona, Udinese win big and much more
An interesting weekend in the Serie A SRl and with three games left in the season, things are certainly heating up. With Juventus losing and no Inter Milan playing, Lazio cemented their top spot with a five goal win while Sassuolo, Fiorentina and Udinese all ran out of their stadiums with wins.
SS Lazio 5-0 Brescia
There seems to be little right that Brescia could do against Lazio with the hosts utterly dominating the scoreline, the statistics and everything else. The away side walked into the game with one win and three losses in their last four with Lazio unbeaten in the same time-frame. The hosts did draw two out of their last four games but still managed to score two minutes into the game. They doubled that eight minutes later and then added a third 13 minutes before the end of the first half.
That effectively sealed Brescia’s fate with the away side failing to do much in the opening half with just six shots but four of them did find the target. Yet, Lazio walked in with a commanding lead and walked out for the second half in the same form. Less than 15 minutes into the second 45 and the hosts had five goals and that was that. Brescia put up a half-decent fight after that but it was far too late for anything to change.
Cagliari 2-1 Juventus
Five points behind Lazio, going into the game and sitting in third place, Juventus desperately needed a win against Cagliari who had won nothing in their last four. Instead, they managed two draws and two losses in comparison to Juventus’ three wins and a draw which meant that all bets were with the Old Lady. But this is football and as that first half proved, even dominating the game cannot help you if you do not score.
The hosts somehow took the lead in a rare offensive spell and ended the first half as the more clinical side with Juventus struggling. That did not change in the second half despite them equalizing seven minutes into the restart. Instead, while they did dominate the ball and the shot count (nine on goal), Cagliari with their fourth and last shot of the game took the lead.
Sassuolo 2-1 Genoa
A tough contest for both sides and form wasn’t in either sides’ favour. Both walked into the match with terrible records with both having lost thrice and drawn once in their last four games. That could have changed for one side and it did despite Genoa opening the scoring in the 12th minute. That lead could have been doubled or even tripled but failure to do that allowed Sassuolo to equalize and walk into the break level.
Things once again started more or less the same way for both sides but Sassuolo somehow managed to take the lead towards the end of the game. It allowed them to push out of the relegation zone and while Genoa did create more dangerous attacks (50-53) as compared to their hosts, nothing would stop Sassuolo on their mission.
Fiorentina 2-1 Bologna
A great start to the first half and Fiorentina should have had the opener atleast thrice before Bologna eventually pushed ahead. The hosts struggled to find the net but against the run of play their visitors did just that and settled back ready for the onslaught that was about to come. And it did come with Viola ending the first half with five more shots on goal although Bologna did have three of their own fly about the goal.
Things did change in the second half with Viola boss Giuseppe Iachini’s words having something to do about that. They dominated the restart and then finally found the net with their first shot on goal, equalizing in the process. Things were, however, about to become worse for their visitors with Fiorentina doubling their lead with their second shot on goal in the second half. That did seem to be that and while Bologna ended with more dangerous attacks (50-53), it wasn’t meant to be.
Udinese 4-1 Lecce
One look at the scoreline tells you that it was a lopsided game and it certainly was with nothing proving that better than the first half. It saw one team play football with the other mostly picking the ball from either out of the net or behind the net with Udinese taking ten shots on goal. Out of those ten, five found the target with three finding the net and it meant that Lecce had a mountain to climb.
But it was one they never looked like scaling with them taking just the three-four shots in the opening 45 but the shocker was that they were the team in form. The hosts walked in winless in their last four (2D 2L) while their visitors managed an impressive record (3W 1L) in the same. Yet nothing changed in the second half despite Lecce pulling one back sixteen minutes into the restart. But then Udinese added another seven minutes after Lecce scored to put the game to bed.
Hellas Verona 4-1 SPAL
Exactly like the Udinese vs Lecce clash, the only difference between the two matches was the fact that Lecce walked in as the team in form but SPAL didn’t. Instead, the away side walked in winless in their last four (2L 2D) with Verona producing a respectable record (1D 2W 1L) in the same run. And they made the most of their form scoring two goals in the opening 15 minutes. I Mastini added another before the end of the first half, leaving few in doubt about the second half.
It proved to be a mere kickabout despite what proved to be a kind of fight-back from SPAL. They found something to fight for after they pulled one back in the 68th minute but a fourth goal two minutes later from Verona proved to be the end of the game. Both sides tried their luck even more with seven shots on goal but unfortunately, it was only supposed to be a five-goal clash.
Torino 0-1 AS Roma
As far as first halves go, this one was unnervingly level. Torino created 27 dangerous attacks with Roma producing just one more but the away side did manage to spend 54% of their time in dangerous attacks. But the only difference between both sides was the fact that Roma proved to have their shooting boots tied a little tightly. They had seven shots, three more than Torino, and yet couldn’t find the net with both sides failing to hit the net.
Many hoped that it would change in the second half and it did, to a certain extent. Shots still flew past the goal but none of the opening six shots managed to find the target let alone the net. That quickly changed once Roma decided to step things up and they took advantage of a good save to tap the rebound in. That saw Torino retreat into their shell despite creating dangerous attacks with the hosts unable to shoot at all. They managed just three more shots, including their second of the game on target, and that forced them to settle for the loss.