Napoli missed a chance to go top of Serie A on Sunday when they finished up on the wrong side of a five goal thriller at home to Fiorentina.
Fans in Milan, and maybe in Turin, will have been cheering on the Viola who climbed to seventh place thanks to a brilliant away performance at one of the toughest grounds in Europe. Nicolas Gonzalez gave the visitors a surprise lead on the half hour with a great finish into the top left corner and Dries Mertens levelled early in the second half with a long range effort, minutes after he came on as a substitute. But goals from Jonathan Ikone and Arthur Cabral put the Viola in firm control. We previewed this match, here at SBOTOP, and predicted a big game for captain Lorenzo Insigne, who is desperate to lead his team to Scudetto glory; but his match was over when he was substituted on 80 minutes at 3-1 down.
Victor Osimhen set up a frantic finish when he halved the deficit on 84 minutes, but Fiorentina hung on for a deserved win which put a big dent in Napoli’s title hopes. And with Juventus and Inter Milan both winning the Azzurri have lost ground in the leading pack.
Vlahovic stars for Juventus…again
Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic continued his dream start with the Bianconeri, scoring the winner in a hard fought 2-1 victory over Cagliari on Saturday. He found space in the middle of the penalty area and fired into the bottom right corner to give Juve a 75th minute lead which the visitors held on to, though Gaston Pereiro was close to an injury time leveller, but his long range effort whistled inches past the top left corner.
The winner was the 22 year-old’s fifth league goal since his switch from Fiorentina to Juventus and he’s fast becoming a Bianconeri fans favourite, but boss Max Allegri will be less pleased by the way his side started the game. Juve were slow out of the blocks and were punished, on ten minutes, when Joao Pedro stroked Cagliari into a tenth minute lead. Centre back Matthijs de Ligt, who was partnering the veteran Giorgio Chiellini, made amends when he rose to meet a Juan Cuadrado corner and headed home the equaliser on the stroke of half time.
The Old Lady’s Serie A 2022 results have been impressive; winning five from the last six, but a defeat to Inter Milan last week has made it difficult for Juve to regain the Scudetto this year. But the game isn’t over quite yet.
Milan battle
Whichever team eventually wins the 2022 league title, there is a fantastic contest developing between the two Milan giants who both have their eyes on the big prize. I Rossoneri were the trail-blazers in the opening 12 games, alongside Napoli, then Inter roared back to become the favourites, according to the fast moving Serie A 2022 betting odds. And I Nerazzurri nudged ahead in the betting markets on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Hellas Verona, as Nicolo Barella set them on their way with a superb finish into the top right corner before Edin Dzeko added a second before the break. Head coach Simone Inzaghi had big shoes to fill following the departure of Scudetto winner Antonio Conte; and he can be pleased with his work so far. With seven games to go it’s all to play for. Inter travel to Spezia next Friday and then they will clash with I Rossoneri in a Coppa Italia Round of 16 second leg tie, with the score still at 0-0 after the first 90 minutes.
It’s over you now Milan. Stefano Pioli takes his side to Torino for the late game on Sunday night and with the pressure rising they can’t afford a slip up.
Relegation
With Salernitana anchored at the bottom of the table and Sampdoria with a little breathing space in 16th, it looks like two from Genoa, Venezia and Cagliari to drop through the relegation trap-door.
And it was no change in the drop zone as all three suffered defeats. Genoa are second bottom after taking a 4-1 thumping at home to Europe chasing Lazio as Ciro Immobile scored a hat-trick, while Venezia are in 18th after they conceded a 94th minute header from Rodrigo Becao in a 2-1 defeat at home to Udinese. Cagliari, three points clear in 17th, defended heroically in their match with Juventus, losing the shot count by 20 to four, and six to one on target. Next up they have a home match against Sassuolo, and then, on 24th April they face a six pointer away to Genoa.
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