Serie A Round 9: 10-man Roma stay perfect

With two goals on the board, Lazio finally began to play with a little confidence and had the Cagliari defence in disarray once more when Felipe Anderson crossed in for Bryan Perea. The Colombian headed against the post but Klose was left with the goal at his mercy however his legendary finishing deserted him at the crucial moment and he shanked his effort wide with the goal at his mercy, his blushes only saved by a questionable offside flag for Perea’s header.

Lazio: Marchetti; Pereirinha, Novaretti (Ciani 46), Cana, Radu; Biglia, Onazi; Candreva, Ederson (Klose 46), Felipe Anderson (Cavanda 87); Perea

It was clear that the viola were a bit too focused on possession and build up, and less focused on defense and, say, scoring. Cyril Théréau, too, was given a free header inside the area, but this time, Fiorentina were rescued when the ball flew over the goal.

Cuadrado’s second goal did not invite quite so much joy. Again the goal was set up by Rossi, who took advantage of a poor clearance from Boukary Dramé. Cuadrado got on the end of the quick pass and nicked it into the bottom corner. Unfortunately as he did so, the attacker crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg. Good news for Viola fans, however: despite quite some time spent lying on the pitch, Cuadrado was eventually able to continue. Whether he’ll be available for the Napoli match midweek is another story.

Arturo Vidal opened the scoring from the penalty spot midway through the first half, before a superb solo strike from Carlos Tevez settled the game nine minutes before the break. It’s Gian Piero Gasperini’s first loss since returning to the Genoa bench.

Antonio Conte was under pressure for the first time as Juventus coach, following consecutive defeats to Fiorentina and Real Madrid. In comparison, Gasperini had turned Genoa’s fortunes around after replacing novice Fabio Liverani, picking up four points from his first two games back in charge.

In fact, the game should’ve been totally out of reach within five minutes of the restart, after Biabiany caused trouble with yet another cross. However, Cassano’s shot was well saved by Gabriel, whose fingertips kept his side in the match. They had the crossbar to thank a few minutes later, when Walter Gargano’s effort cracked back off the woodwork.

Suddenly the atmosphere at the Tardini was twitchy; and rightly so. Within a couple of minutes, Milan were level. Silvestre -- who turned down Parma in favour of Milan in the summer -- took advantage of a corner which cracked back off the crossbar to bundle the ball beyond Mirante, with the game right back at square one.

Higuain almost bagged a second midway through the first half. The forward was given space to run at goal and pulled his shot just wide of the far post. The Argentine threatened again shortly after. He received the ball in the area before hitting a snapshot on the turn, which was well saved by Padelli.

Napoli were given a second penalty, albeit a very harsh one just past the half hour mark. Glik charged down a Fernandez volley with his elbow, but the defender was just trying to get out of the way. The referee initially missed the incident, but was called back by his assistant and awarded the penalty. This time, Higuain sent Padelli the wrong way, slotting into the bottom corner.

Udinese injuries and suspensions

Maurizio Domizzi (injured)

It’s been a tough seven days for Antonio Conte and Juventus. Two consecutive losses have left a sour taste in Turin mouths. Everything was going to plan last Sunday, with the Bianconeri 2-0 up and coasting at Fiorentina. A disastrous 15 minute spell changed all that, as a Giuseppe Rossi hat trick proved to be the catalyst which saw Juve crumble to a 4-2 defeat.

A 2-1 reverse against Real Madrid in midweek also put a serious dent in Juve’s hopes of qualifying for the latter stages of the Champions League. Two points out of a possible nine is a far from ideal start.

Lazio injuries and suspensions

Cagliari injuries and suspensions

With the big guns taking on teams in the lower half of the table, much of Serie A looks to be decided before the matches even start. Sure, you can hope for an upset, but Genoa aren’t going to beat Juventus, and it’s not going to be Udinese that halts Roma’s perfection.

Instead, it might be worth it to watch the sides already battling against the drop. See if Sassuolo can make it two in a row, or if this will be Stefano Pioli’s last week on the bench. And, while it’s certainly not a relegation battle, make sure you tune in Saturday evening to see if Inter can better their ten-man performance of last week, and manage to knock Hellas out of fourth place.