Serie A, Week 7: Roma close gap on Juventus, Inter and Napoli draw in style

Inter Milan and Napoli drew 2-2 in a dramatic match at the San Siro on Sunday night. The game was pretty uneventful until José Callejón opened the scoring with just over 10 minutes left, with goals proceeding to cascade in at both ends of the field.

Inter made the better start to the match, with their wing-back Joel Obi forcing the first save from Rafael after just five minutes. However, despite the nerazzurri being allowed to dominate possession, their attacking play lacked incision, and it took them 18 minutes until they seriously gave Napoli a scare.

Milan continued their positive start to the season, with a great performance from Keisuke Honda, who scored a brace, and a little help from Rafael Marques, who scored a bizarre own goal.

Gone is the Milan of last season, cautious, barely able to create chances. The visitors started the game positively, looking for the goal from the start. Yet the first goal was down to a tremendous error from Verona rather than a great chance from Milan. In the 21^st minute, Ignazio Abate sent his cross into space. With no Milan player near, all Rafael Marques had to do was clear the ball. Instead, the defender sliced the ball horribly, putting it behind his own keeper. It was the first evidence of an appalling performance by the gialloblu defense.

If you live in the United States, the place to catch the game online is beIN Sports Connect. If you are a television subscriber to beIN Sports, you can watch a stream of the game on that site for free.

Outside of the USA, you can also catch the game on beIN Sports Connect in Cananda. In the UK, BT Sport will carry the match, while Sky Go is the place to go to watch in Italy. For listings from other countries, check out Live Soccer TV.

Chievo Verona have parted ways with manager Eugenio Corini, the club have confirmed. Yesterday’s 3-0 loss to AS Roma leaves the Flying Donkeys on just four points for the season, having managed just one point from their last five matches.

The loss leaves Chievo in 17th, not yet inside the relegation zone -- but only thanks to superior goal difference, which doesn’t even play a role in determining the final standings in Serie A. However, even a point from either Parma or Palermo will push the Flying Donkeys down into the drop, and apparently, club leadership isn’t too pleased.

Fiorentina may have impressed with a 3-0 victory over Inter Milan last weekend, but either the win or the international break seemed to have taken a toll, with the hosts unable to threaten much. Lazio saw more of the ball, although it took time for them to create much of anything.

After a rather boring first half-hour, Fiorentina finally came into the game -- and that’s when Lazio took the lead, against the run of play. From a counter, Candreva zipped down the right, sending in a low cross. Djordjevic was quicker than Stefan Savic and put the ball in behind the Fiorentina keeper.

Juventus thought they’d managed to break the deadlock on the subsequent corner, though Leonardo Bonucci’s goal was ruled out for offside.

A few seconds of madness ensued, as Sassuolo charged up the end of the field and carved out a chance for Simone Zaza, though Bonucci’s goalline block momentarily kept him from breaking the deadlock. Unfortunately for Juve, they still couldn’t scramble the ball clear, and Zaza hit the target at the second time of asking to give the hosts a stunning lead.

No one really expected Roma to have much of a hard time against Chievo Verona today at the Stadio Olimpico, but no one really expected the match to practically be over as soon as the ref blew his whistle, either. That’s more or less exactly what we got, though.

It was a dominating performance from Roma, with Chievo proving utterly incapable of dealing with their crisp ball movement and the quality of their front line. Even with their defense packed in tight and deep, smart movement by Roma’s forwards and midfielders was able to create spaces to exploit, and Roma certainly did plenty of that.

Sassuolo injuries and suspensions

Juventus injuries and suspensions

Stephan El Shaarawy has started just two games so far this season, and has recently talked to the media about not being happy with his status and wanting more time on the pitch. While doing that just few days before an important game might not be the smartest idea ever, it might also show that El Shaarawy is highly motivated. With Jeremy Menez likely out due to injury, it will be a great opportunity for him to prove his worth against Hellas.

Panagiotis Tachtsidis might not be the star of Hellas, but the playmaker is an extremely important player, especially now that the gialloblu have many injured midfielders. If Milan can keep him under control, Verona’s attacking trio will have much less scoring opportunities.

It’s rare that there’s an interesting matchup early on Serie A Sunday, but one’s finally been provided in Week 7. Neither Lazio nor Fiorentina are where they’d like to be in the table -- 8th and 9th respectively, tied on nine points -- but there’s not so much damage been done that they can’t still finish in the European places.

Plus, both sides are riding a high coming into this match. The visitors have scored seven in their last two games, and held off a Sassuolo comeback last time out to make it two wins in a row. Fiorentina, on the other hand, had absolutely no trouble seeing off Inter, scoring three goals without reply. That means they’ve gone five unbeaten; the challenge is now to prove they can keep scoring.

Napoli, meanwhile, have no injury or suspension concerns whatsoever, leaving coach Benítez lacking in excuses if his side fail to play to their best.

Will Marek Hamšík replicate his international form? - Marek Hamšík hasn’t played consistently at his best for Napoli for quite a while, leading to speculation that he’s being misused by Benítez. Given quite how good a player he is when on form, that’s a pretty serious accusation. Hamšík was outstanding during the international break, playing as Slovakia stunned Spain 2-1, before netting twice in a 3-1 win over Belarus. If he can replicate such a level of performance against Inter, Napoli will have a massive advantage.