The Serie A table looks pretty much the same after the 11th matchday of the 2023-24 campaign, with Inter Milan still on top with 28 points while Juventus are right behind them at second with 26 points.
Inter Milan and Juventus managed to extend their unbeaten runs with important victories against Atalanta and Fiorentina, respectively. And with their fellow top four contenders dropping points, they have the edge in the Scudetto race, based on the Serie A 2023 odds.
Meanwhile, Udinese got their first win of the season with a shocking 1-0 result against AC Milan. That means that Salernitana are now the only team left without a single win, which doesn’t bode well for their hopes of maintaining their top-flight status.
Check out our latest review, as SBOTOP recaps some of the biggest Serie A 2023 results from last weekend.
Martinez the hero again for Inter Milan
Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez was given plaudits for his killer instinct in their 2-1 win against Atalanta yesterday.
When Inter Milan were up 1-0 after Hakan Calhanoglu scored a penalty after Juan Musso took down Matteo Darmian, Inter Milan could’ve easily “parked the bus” and called it a night since they were on the front foot.
But Martinez probably didn’t get the memo because he was so determined to score.
Martinez could’ve had a brace if his opening header was counted, but the linesman raised the offside flag because the 26-year-old had gone just a bit too early.
Following his disallowed header, the Argentinean scored a wonderful curler in the second half for his team-leading 12th league goal of the season to make sure that the Nerazzurri claimed all three points.
Gianluca Scamacca scored a consolation goal for Atalanta four minutes later to prevent a clean sheet for Inter Milan via an assist by Ademola Lookman.
Considering his remarkable form, Martinez is not only in the running for the Capocannoniere title but also the European Golden Boot.
He even admitted during the post-match interview that he has thought about trying to win those individual scoring titles this season, although he reiterated that his main focus was to win another Scudetto for Inter Milan.
Clean sheets galore for Juventus
Juventus are right behind Inter Milan in the standings because they’ve recorded their fourth consecutive shutout victory, this time a 1-0 result against Fiorentina.
In one of I Bianconeri’s rare shots on target, Fabio Miretti had a tap-in after 10 minutes, courtesy of Filip Kostic’s cross during a counter attacking sequence.
What’s incredible about Juventus’ performance is that they played on the back foot for pretty much the whole match against an inferior Fiorentina side.
In the counting stats, Fiorentina outshoot Juventus 25-4, had a 68-32 advantage in possession, and had twice as many corners (8) as Juventus had total shots.
Allegri put a lot of faith in his backline, which proved to be impervious, with the likes of Gleison Bremer, Daniele Rugani, and Wojciech Szczesny leading the way.
Szczesny had several amazing saves, while Bremer and Rugani accounted for a total of 24 clearances to keep Fiorentina’s attackers at bay.
For the past few seasons, Max Allegri has been criticised for his pragmatic tactics, especially since he has a talented frontline with the likes of Federico Chiesa, Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Kostic, and Arek Milik at his disposal.
But so far, the results speak for themselves. Allegri and clean sheets come together like wine and cheese.
Salernitana look destined for the drop
Salernitana are at the bottom of the standings following their second consecutive league loss at the hands of defending champions Napoli.
The two teams came out hot out of the gates, but it was Napoli who broke the deadlock courtesy of Giacomo Raspadori, who replaced the absent Victor Osimhen in the starting XI, via Stanislav Lobotka’s assist in the 13th minute.
Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa tried his best to keep Salernitana in the game with a couple of great saves to deny Raspadori and Matteo Politano on a couple of occasions.
Salernitana were left to rue their missed opportunities, as Lorenzo Pirola’s header from a corner was probably their best chance to draw level and steal a point.
Napoli went on to dominate the second half proceedings, and after muffing several chances, they got the game-sealing goal through Eljif Elmas’ curler into the bottom corner with eight minutes left.
Salernitana are in dire need of a win, but it will be earned the hard way given their tough schedule, as three of their next four opponents this November are sides from the top half of the table.
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