Serie A, Week 4: Roma victorious in Derby; Napoli beat Milan

Saturday

Udinese may be off to a slow start in Serie A, but they were certainly on top of things in this match, with Maicosuel scoring in the first minute. Unfortunately for the zebrette, Chievo put in two before the half was up, then proceeded to sit back and soak up the visitors’ pressure. That’s Udi’s second loss of the season, leaving them in 14th.

The second half brought brought much of the same as Milan continued to pressure, notching 22 shots; 12 of those from Balotelli. Milan’s pressure resulted in more than a few misplaced passes from the visitors, who appeared a bit worn down after their midweek heroics. But just one good move was enough to score the second goal. Higuain took the ball down the left side, cut inside, and sent in a shot from outside the area. The cracks in Milan’s defense showed through, with no rossoneri player able to get close enough to close down Pepita before he scored.

Milan refused to give up, however. They continued pressing and this time it was Napoli that cracked. Albiol fouled Balotelli inside the area and the ref pointed to the spot. It was only natural to assume that, after 21 straight penalties converted, Supermario would sink this one. But Reina had done his homework, standing tall between the sticks and waiting for Balotelli to make his move before diving, sticking out an arm to save the shot and rescue Napoli.

Atalanta: Consigli; Stendardo, Lucchini, Yepes; Migliaccio (Brienza 67’), Brivio (Bonaventura 62’), Raimondi, Moralez (Livaja 74’), Carmona, Baselli, Denis

Goals: Fernandez (41’), Rossi (69’)

Rudi Garcia has cracked the Rome derby at his first attempt. His side maintained their 100% start to the season by picking up their first derby victory in six games. Federico Balzaretti’s second half strike and a stoppage time penalty from Adem Ljajic did the damage for the Giallorossi. Lazio finished the game with ten men after Andre Dias saw red late on.

Roma missed injured pair Michael Bradley and Mattia Destro. Balzaretti recovered from a training ground injury in time to start, while Ljajic began the game from the bench.

It took awhile for things to get rolling in the first half. Juventus had the majority of the possession and a ridiculous amount of shots, but it took until almost the break for one to land in the back of the net. In fact, it took an opening goal from Verona to convince the visitors that they needed to simmer down and send their shots on target.

The goalkeeper was still reeling from the goal when Tévez tried again. This time, the ball hit the inside of the post, ricocheted off, hit the other post, and fell into Rafael’s arms. The Verona keeper curled into the fetal position, hugging the ball and whimpering.

Inter opened the scoring in the 7th minute with a goal from Rodrigio Palacio, his 50th in Serie A and his third of the season. Yuto Nagatomo sent a ball over the top of the Sassuolo defense, which promptly fell to pieces, allowing Palacio to tap in.

Sassuolo: Pomini; Gazzola (Pucino13), Rossini (Bianco 57), Acerbi, Ziegler; Kurtic, Magnanelli, Chibsah (Zaza 37); Schelotto, Floro Flores, Missiroli

Napoli travel to Milan in much better shape, with no players on the physio table. The atmosphere around the team is fantastic after winning every game this season - three in Serie A and the great midweek win in Champions League against Borussia Dortmund. Perhaps for the first time in who knows how many years, Napoli is coming to the San Siro as a favorite.

Milan injuries and suspensions

Atalanta injuries and suspensions

Fiorentina injuries and suspensions

Juventus injuries and suspensions:

Simone Pepe, Martin Caceres (injuried)

A Senad Lulic goal back in May handed the Biancocelesti the Coppa Italia at the expense of their city rivals. In addition, Vladimir Petkovic’s side took four points from last season’s two Serie A meetings and did the league double over the Giallorossi the season prior. Garcia, backed by a plethora of new signings and slew of good performances now has a chance to do what Luis Enrique, Zdenek Zeman and Aurelio Andreazzoli all failed to do.

Speaking of Ederson, both he and Michael Bradley have shown a united front ahead of the game, by releasing a statement in the hopes of stamping out any racist behaviour.

Sassuolo have lost all three games so far, two of them to their direct opponents in the battle against the drop. They were heavily defeated by Livorno at home 4-1, and in the last round they lost to Verona 2-0. In round one, the neroverdi were beaten 2-0 by Torino. It makes you wonder how will they fare against teams from the top of the table.

Sassuolo will be without their brightest talent, 19 years old Domenico Berardi, who is suspended. The news that defender Emanuele Terranova damaged his cruciate ligaments on training on Wednesday, keeping him out for about six months, certainly won’t help players and fans be optimistic about this duel. Ex-Juve man Luca Marrone is recovering from injury and likely won’t be in the starting line up, nor will goalkeeper Gianluca Pegolo. The injuries to starters combined with a lack of confidence from Sassuolo means it’s hard to expect anything but an Inter win.

It’s Round 4 in Serie A, and we’re down to two at the top, both who face challenging opponents this weekend. On Sunday, Roma host Lazio in the season’s first Derby della Capitale, and their rivals certainly won’t be eager to play a hand in the giallorossi maintaining their perfect record. Later that evening, Napoli visit the San Siro to take on Milan, with both sides tired after a challenging first round in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, last week’s stumblers have the benefit of weak opposition. Juventus, who drew 1-1 with Inter in last week’s Derby d’Italia, welcome Hellas Verona, who’ve made a decent start to the season but still won’t present much trouble to the Old Lady. The nerazzurri take on Sassuolo, who are dead last and searching for their first point. Finally, Fiorentina go to Bergamo, looking to avenge last week’s late draw with Cagliari by taking all three points against Atalanta.