Horncastle: Is it already time to say goodbye to Serie A title challenge?
It isn’t over until Andrea Bocelli sings. Melancholically, however, we can already hear Time to say goodbye in Serie A. The front page of Monday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport has Juventus bidding the rest of league farewell after the weekend’s results. The Old Lady briefly turned to smile and wave and then she was gone. “Ciao Ciao.”
We’re barely into October and, despite losing the Derby d’Italia, Juventus’ lead is already four points. Just imagine if Max Allegri had played Gonzalo Higuain from the start in that game… Some wins seem to have become easier for Juventus. The margins are definitely bigger. They now look able to blow teams away like never before.
A five-minute tango by Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain was enough to seal the points at the Castellani. Remember Juventus were 2-nil up after 10 minutes against Sassuolo, 3-0 to the good inside half an hour - although the game did then get tricky - and 3-0 in front at half-time against Cagliari. Higuain, incidentally, has scored five goals in these matches and if anyone is under any illusions about Juventus’ firepower consider this: they had 28 shots against Cagliari and 26 against Empoli. Both are league highs.
If you look at how Napoli have fared against similar opponents, the difference is telling. They were 2-0 down and drew 2-2 with Pescara, got stuck in Genoa [0-0] and lost 1-0 to Atalanta. Unlike the champions, Napoli seem to find it more difficult to win ugly. Defeat in Bergamo contrasted with Juventus’ not pretty 1-0 victory in Palermo a week ago when the only positives were the points and the clean sheet. Are Napoli capable of grinding out results when they can't get in the groove?
To do so their away form will have to improve; five points from 12 on the road is a concern. The squad does now has the depth to play every game at the same intensity. However, rotation under Maurizio Sarri remains limited and could have been more wide-ranging over a run of seven games in 22 days. While there are extenuating circumstances, we are still yet to see Amadou Diawara and Marko Rog make their debuts in blue.
It was a big weekend for Roma as they made up ground on Napoli ahead of their visit to the San Paolo after the international break with a just about deserved 2-1 win against Inter in a game prematurely billed as a play-off for third spot. The first half could easily have finished 4-2. There were 21 shots in the opening 45 minutes, a record in Serie A this season. Edin Dzeko was brilliant. Not only did he get Roma’s opener, his fifth in seven games, but time and again he set up his teammates. The Bosnia international has really started to come good and produced arguably the save of the season from Samir Handanovic.
Frustratingly Roma still seem to average a goal every five clear-cut chances created and Mo Salah was particularly wasteful despite constantly leaving Davide Santon for dust. Roma, as even Frank de Boer admitted, could have had the game sewn up in the first half. Inter did trouble Roma though. It must be said Wojciech Szczesny and Kostas Manolas ran Dzeko close for Man of the Match award. Key to everything Inter did well was Ever Banega who hit the post, played the pass of the night to Cristian Ansaldi and scored an equaliser of great poise [credit Mauro Icardi with another assist]. A silly foul from Stevan Jovetic then led to the free-kick from which Manolas got Roma’s winner.
Inter’s performances have been better than their results suggest but if they are compete they can’t keep falling behind, as they have done in all but one of their games in all competitions. While de Boer’s record reads four defeats in nine, and Juventus stand seven points above them, the Champions League is only two points away and there is more to come from this team.
Milan leapfrogged their cousins in the craziest game of the weekend in Italy. One-nil up, then 3-1 down against their bogey team Sassuolo, Vincenzo Montella’s team struck three times in eight minutes to improbably win at San Siro. It was the first time they have come back from a two-goal deficit in nearly five years. Impressively, Milan have now taken 10 points from 12, seven of which have come against rivals for a place in Europe.
Seeing the young talent on display for both teams must have been encouraging for Italy coach Giampiero Ventura. Six of the seven goal scorers were Italian, four were 23 or under and two, among them, were teenagers. Manuel Locatelli’s screamer was the pick of the bunch. “This is the moment all kids dream about,” the tearful 18-year-old said. “It was like a dream. It was only when I heard San Siro roar that I started to believe it was true.”
The table certainly does for very interesting reading at the moment. Lazio, like Milan, look as though they have been underrated. Stefan de Vrij is back to his best and there aren’t many attacking trios in Serie A with the potential of Ciro Immobile, Felipe Anderson and Keita Balde Diao. Chievo have been a revelation and Milan must be careful on their visit to the Bentegodi when Serie A resumes. Inter and Sassuolo have already lost there this season.
Torino, meanwhile, keep making statement win after statement win. Last week’s 3-1 triumph over Roma, their first in 26 years, was followed by a comfortable 2-1 defeat of Fiorentina. Andrea Belotti didn’t find the back of the net, but Iago Falque managed to get himself a doppietta to add to the goal and assist he scored a week ago. This is now the most prolific start to a season Torino have had since they were last champions in 1976. Genoa somehow keep going under the radar. If they win their game in hand against Fiorentina at Marassi, they’ll share the next best record in Italy after Juventus with Napoli. The table could begin resemble Serie B 2006-07.
Down at the bottom, Beppe Iachini became the third managerial casualty of the season after Udinese's 3-0 loss to Lazio at the Dacia Arena. Of the names doing the rounds, Stefano Pioli would be best bet for them. Samp finally managed to stop the rot, claiming a 94th minute equaliser at home to 10-man Palermo, and ending a run of four straight defeats. Cadetto champions Crotone remain the only team without a win this season. This season was always going to be tough for them after losing their coach and top scorer and a point is all they have got to show for their efforts at the moment. To find a team that made as bad as start to life in Serie A as they have this season you have to go all the way back to Padova in 1995.
@JamesHorncastle
