Genoa, Juventus, Sampdoria and Sassuolo keep their 100 percent record intact, Andrea Belotti enjoys an eventful Sunday while Inter Milan continue to labour.
Roma squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Cagliari. Luciano Spalletti rang some subtle changes , swapping out Edin Dzeko for Stephan El Shaarawy and the strikerless leading line, while at the rearguard he went with Alessandro Florenzi and Bruno Alves on the wings. It took only six minutes for Roma to open the scoring in Sardinia, thanks to some shoddy tackling from Cagliari. Diego Perotti, in what is quickly becoming his patented style, dispatched the resulting penalty. In the second half, Kevin Strootman, who was last on the scoresheet in January 2014 against Livorno, smashed home to put Roma in pole position at the Stadio Sant’ Elia. Then the wheels came off. Marco Boriello halved the deficit before Marco Sau snatched a point for Cagliari two minutes from time.
Sami Khedira’s second goal in as many games was the difference as Juventus preserved their 100 percent record, piping Lazio by a lone goal in the scorching Roman sun. In what was largely a cagey affair, with occasional offensive forays, Lazio remained resolute until Paulo Dybala lofted a pass over the home defence and Khedira duly placed a low drive past Federico Marchetti.
Andrea Belotti followed up on his penalty miss last weekend, but this time, it came with no devastating implications. Belotti scored a hat-trick and missed a spot-kick as Torino thrashed Bologna 5-1. The Italian scored either side of Saphir Taider’s equaliser to give The Granata a half-time lead. Goals from Josef Martinez and Daniele Baselli put the result beyond doubt before Belotti saw his spot-kick saved by Antonio Mirante with six minutes remaining. But he still had time to score his fourth goal of the season, tapping home from close range for the icing on the cake.
At the San Siro, Frank de Boer had skipper Mauro Icardi to thank as the Argentina international striker saved his side from the ignominy of another defeat, heading home from Antonio Candreva’s cross with 18 minutes left on the clock. Palermo had taken the lead through defender Andrea Rispoli.
Felipe put Udinese on course for a win over Empoli. The Brazilian defender stabbed home at a corner inside three minutes before Stipe Perica sealed a 2-0 win in injury time after Vincent Laurini was sent off for Empoli.
Leonardo Pavoletti scored twice as Genoa beat Crotone 3-1. Raffaele Palladino put the new boys ahead in the first half but Serge Gakpe and Pavoletti’s brace gave the visitors all three points.
Carlos Sanchez scored the winner on his full debut for Fiorentina as they bounced back from the defeat in Turin last week, beating Chievo Verona 1-0 and goals from Gregoire Defrel and Domenico Berardi – prior to Rey Manaj’s consolation – gave Sassuolo a 2-1 victory over Pescara.
Atalanta were consigned to back-to-back defeats at Sampdoria. Franck Kessie gave the away side the lead but Fabio Quagliarella equalized from the spot before Edgar Barreto headed the winner.
At the Stadio San Paolo, Napoli had amends to make after a 2-2 draw at promoted Pescara last week but new signing Arkadiusz Milik gave them a 2-0 lead by the 33rd minute after he tapped home Dries Mertens’ shot when it came off the post then rose to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a glancing header.
Milan looked to have fought their way back when M’Baye Niang, with a fine individual effort from a tight angle, and Spanish striker Suso, with a spectacular curling shot, pulled the Rossoneri level on 55 minutes. Jose Callejon, however, popped up with a 74th minute winner and Milan’s frustration was evident when Juraj Kucka was immediately sent off for picking up a second yellow card. Niang also saw red three minutes from time and Milan’s misery was complete when Alessio Romagnoli put the ball into his own net deep into stoppage time. 4-2 it ended in favour of Maurizio Sarri’s men.
Article By: Sidney Diogu, @sidneydiogu
