Bologna 3-3 AC Milan
Serie A, Week 5 review: Roma alone at the top, Inter-Fiorentina still to come
Roma maintained their perfect start at the expense of Sampdoria, who are now officially in crisis, while Sassuolo shocked the Sao Paolo and took a point. Juventus were helped by a controversial referee’s decision and Milan managed to avoid defeat thanks to two late goals.
Bologna's Diego Laxalt introduced himself to Serie A fans with two goals, but a late comeback from Milan left the home side less than happy. The rossoneri may have staged a comeback, but they are still revealing their weaknesses. One of those is Alessandro Matri, who somehow managed not to score despite having three great chances to do so. Milan are now 10 points behind league leaders Roma and, as good as they usually are in the later stages of the season, they have to start winning games yesterday.
Chievo Verona 1 - 2 Juventus
Giuseppe Sannino's men almost pulled off a famous victory over the Scudetto holders at the Bentegodi. Antonio Conte rotated his squad and almost paid the price when Cyril Thereau's strike put the Flying Donkeys ahead after 28 minutes. Gianluigi Buffon's poor clearance led to Gennaro Sardo setting up for the Frenchman to curl a shot into the bottom corner. An inspired half time team talk from Conte turned the game on its head. Fabio Quagliarella equalised within two minutes of the restart, before Alessandro Bernardini turned a Paul Pogba cross into his own net on 65 minutes. The defender was at full stretch to try to clear the ball, but unwittingly handed the Bianconeri all three points.
Lazio 3 -1 Catania
The Biancocelesti bounced back from defeat in the Rome derby with a 3-1 victory against the struggling Sicilians. Ederson opened the scoring after only four minutes. Mariano Andujar spilt Antonio Candreva's free kick and the Brazilian spun round in the box to turn in the rebound. Pablo Barrientos equalised almost immediately, seizing upon a poor Lorik Cana backpass and prodding past Federico Marchetti. Senad Lulic restored Lazio's lead six minutes before the break. The Bosnian was given licence to run at goal unopposed and his shot crashed in off the inside of the post. Giuseppe Bellusci saw red for the visitors on the hour after a second caution. Andujar kept Lazio at bay with a string of fine saves, until Hernanes crashed in a third with the last kick of the game. The substitute fired a well placed shot into the bottom corner of the net. Catania remain winless and prop up the Serie A table along with Sassuolo.
The game that created the least interest in this round of Serie A ended with in a draw, although the visitors looked the more lively of the two sides.
Napoli 1 - 1 Sassuolo
Rafa Benitez rested half of his team. He and his players and everyone in the known universe thought this was going to be an easy game for Napoli. It wasn't. And that Sassuolo came just to observe their own defeat. They didn't. Some Napoli players looked tired, some looked like they have never played together, most looked like they would rather be somewhere else. It was Sassuolo that had the best chance to score a second goal, but Giandomenico Mesto saved his team from total embarrassment by stopping the ball on the goal line in the first half.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, this finished the highest scoring game in a round rich with goals. Parma, who had only scored two goals in the previous four rounds, snagged their first win of the season. Amauri received a red card for dissent, prompting Atalanta to stage a comeback, but they never found an equalizer. Now alarm bells are going off in Bergamo, as the nerazzurri were defeated for the fourth time in five matches
If the season was to end now, there is one team that certainly wouldn't object. The giallorossi are now alone at the top with 15 points. Again it was Roma's second half display that secured them points - they've yet to score a single goal in the first half of a match, and yet they have a perfect record. The only bad news for Roma is that Maicon had to leave the pitch in the first half due to injury. Oh, and Gervinho scored, so that's cool. Sampdoria are in deep trouble now and that's less cool, especially if you're Delio Rossi, who will surely be under a lot of pressure in the next few days.
Torino 2-2 Hellas Verona
It's now the Alessio Cerci show. The Torino winger scored two goals, which makes it five on the season so far, which makes him the top goalscorer in Serie A. But Toro once again allowed their opponents to come back and grab a point, the first Verona goal coming via Luca Toni's acrobatic assist for Juanito Gomez, and the second through a penalty taken by Jorginho.
Getting the sense something is missing? Inter Milan and Fiorentina meet on Thursday night in the biggest clash of Round 5...although it’s difficult to think it’ll be more exciting than Wednesday’s games.
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