A big weekend in Serie A has come and gone without the drama of uncertainty. When Juventus and Napoli met on Saturday, some thought it could be a chance for Napoli to ascend in Serie A. Instead, Juve reminded everyone of their place atop the league. But we start with a fiery rivalry in the Italian Capital.
Serie A Week 6: Juventus Assert Their Dominance
Roma v Lazio
It was a beautiful day in Rome for Derby Della Capitale; warm and not a cloud in the sky. The pitch at the Stadio Olimpico looked surprisingly pristine and that old building was rocking for sure. Roma, after a very poor start to the season, needed another result on Saturday to further right the ship on their season. Only their eternal rivals, Lazio, stood in the way.
It was clear from the start of this game that Roma were hoping to be defensively sound. Alessandro Florenzi, their usual right-back, was on the wing, with Davide Santon in behind him. It allowed Lazio to control much of the possession but they couldn’t do anything with it. It resulted in a pretty uneventful first half. Both teams got off a few shots but for the most part, nothing threatening.
Lorenzo Pellegrini came on for an injured Javier Pastore in the 35th minute. But luckily for Roma, Pastore passed on his back heel magic to Pellegrini. In the 44th minute after the ball a long ball failed to be cleared it ended up at Pellegrini’s feet. He instinctively backheeled the ball into the net; just like Pastore in midweek. Roma took a crucial 1-0 lead into half-time in a must-win game.
Their lead would not last long, however. 20 minutes into the second half it was gone when centre-back Federico Fazio attempted to play a back pass that was blocked and stolen by Ciro Immobile. Immobile then took the ball out of the air with a lovely touch and shot into the far corner. Lazio were level and Roma needed to respond.
Boy did they; Aleksandar Kolarov knocked in a beautiful free kick from inside the D; the Stadio Olimpico erupted. But the game was not over, after the goal Lazio created most of the big chances, until the 86th minute when Federico Fazio got his head on the end of a beautiful dead ball from Lorenzo Pellegrini. Fazio rocketed the header home, making up for his mistake and securing the three points for Roma.
Juventus v Napoli
The other giant Serie A match this Saturday was the matchup with the top two teams in the league. Juventus hosting Napoli means the seven-time champions had a chance to avenge their last home loss, against Napoli in April. This, however, is a different Napoli, still finding their feet under Carlo Ancelotti. Surely they couldn’t win in Turin again?
Whether they could or couldn’t didn’t matter in the tenth minute when Dries Mertens scored the opening goal. After an awful pass out of the back by Bonucci, a lovely couple of touches left Jose Callejon with the ball on the right side of the box. He played a perfectly weighted square ball that left Mertens finishing into an empty net. It was the dream start for Napoli, their press had suffocated Juve early on forcing the mistake.
But you knew that Juventus would settle. Especially this season, with all of the veterans on the field, we all knew there would be a counter punch. And in the 26th minute, the counter punch came when Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the ball on the left wing. A couple of stepovers got him past Albanian international Elseid Hysaj with ease and he flighted a beautiful ball to the back post where Mario Mandzukic headed it into the net. Just like that, we were tied.
From there the play was back and forth with both teams creating chances and looking likely to score. Finally, a chance to score fell again to Mario Mandzukic who did not miss. With Mandzukic’s second goal, Juve took the lead, pilling massive pressure on Napoli, pressure that sadly was too much for the Napoleon side.
That pressure came to the forefront the 58th minute when Mario Rui got sent off for his second yellow card. It wasn’t a great foul, some might not have given the yellow, but either way, Rui was off. With half an hour to go Juve were up a man and a goal up with only time standing in their way. To cap the game off, Ronaldo got another assist, this time to Leo Bonucci. Bonucci’s goal was his first this season.
This game reaffirmed that Juventus are far and away the best team in Serie A. Many thought they wouldn’t be as strong domestically, with the focus so heavily on Europe. Time will tell if that still the case but if they keep winning like this they’ll wrap up the title by Christmas and we won’t even need to ask the question.
Star of the Weekend
This week’s star of the weekend is a star in the making. Genoa striker Krzysztof Piatek is off to the hottest start in Europe this season. He currently is the highest scoring player in Europe this season with eight goals in six games. Piatek’s two goals on Sunday morning were just a continuation of the form he has shown this season.
Up Next in Serie A
The Monday night game is Sampodria hosting SPAL. This is a chance for SPAL to show how serious they are this season. Next week in Serie A features only one marquee game. Lazio, looking to bounce back from the derby loss, will play host to Fiorentina. Fiorentina, one of the surprises of the season so far, sit fifth currently come off a win at home against Atalanta.
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