Serie A, Round 28: Top three sneak victories

Roma made the breakthrough midway through the first half. Scuffet ran out to parry Gervinho’s effort from 12 yards, but the rebound fell at the feet of Totti and Il Capitano buried a low shot into the bottom corner.

Roma’s third goal arrived in spectacular fashion on 69 minutes. Torosidis saw space open up, so the defender cut inside and let rip with a 25-yard rocket which zipped into the far bottom corner.

Jorginho unlocked the Torino defence to find Callejon in space, but the Spaniard’s ball across the box was unable to find Higuain. Toro had the half’s best chance just before the half hour mark. Bovo left Reina clutching at air after unleashing a screamer from distance, which rattled the top of the post.

Napoli pressed forward after the break. A ball into the Torino box caused problems and the defenders failed to clear. The ball came back out to Callejon and Padelli came out to meet it ahead of Higuain. Padelli then had his palms stung by the Napoli forward from 20 yards.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with stuttering play on both sides finally punctured by one passage of great passes, which resulted in a goal, this time for the away side. Substitute Victor Obinna made a crucial interception in midfield and moved the ball on to Luca Rigoni. The Chievo captain then played a sumptuous through-ball for Alberto Paloschi who took the ball round Neto with his first touch before crashing a shot high into the net.

Fiorentina: Neto; Diakité, Rodríguez, Compper; Cuadrado, Ambrosini, Anderson (Iličić 65), Pizarro, Pasqual; Wolski (Vargas 74); Matri (Gómez 58)

Juve’s Pablo Osvaldo twice put the ball in the back of the net in the first half, though on each occasion was denied by the offside flag. But don’t let that fool you; it was far from 45 minutes of Juve domination. Their hosts looked to make the most of the raucous crowd by pressing the league leaders as high up the field as they could, in a frenetic high-tempo opening period.

It was a classic Gasperini performance, with the grifone denying Juventus time and space from front to back. The bianconeri were never able to patiently pick a pass; metronome Andrea Pirlo unable to dominate the midfield. Genoa were a little less convincing going forward; often giving the ball away with overambitious direct passes or being crowded out by the energetic Juve midfield, but they were still level when the halftime whistle blew.

For once, rossoneri fans had something to celebrate: Milan climbed back from the abyss, with ten players, against a good Parma side... or at least it seemed that way for a minute. Because it only took about 60 seconds for Parma to retake the lead. The goal again came from the right flank, exposing once again Milan’s weakness in defense. And even worse, they let Amauri score, with a backheel from Schelotto’s cross.

Amauri’s beautiful goal may have come only in the 77th minute, but it pretty much ended the match. Parma, in control once more, refused to let Milan back into the game, instead scoring a fourth themselves. Jonathan Biabiany was all alone inside the penalty area when the ball bounced away from Mexes and Parma’s forward had an easy job of heading the ball into the net.

Lazio took the lead on 19 minutes thanks to some route one football. Klose, then Alvaro Gonzalez flicked on a goal kick for Lulic to run clear and lift the ball over Avramov into the top corner. It was the Bosnian’s first league goal since September.

Gonzalez should have added a second on 27 minutes. Lulic turned provider for the Uruguayan to head his effort into the ground and wide at the far post.

Denis was in the thick of the action for the hosts. The forward recovered after catching Mustafi’s studs, then failed to power through the Sampdoria defence with a solo run. El Tanque wasted a glorious chance when he headed over Cigarini’s corner from five yards.

Atalanta took the lead thanks to a flowing move on 36 minutes. Denis held off his marker to collect a pass and deftly flick the ball on for Carmona, who sent a low volley into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Fiorentina injuries and suspensions

Projected lineups

At the beginning of the season, few would’ve imagined that Parma would be the favorites going into Sunday’s match at the San Siro. But with Milan in tenth, eight points back of the ducali, the hosts aren’t odds-on to win. Particularly since no one can remember the last time Parma actually lost a match.

Walter Gargano (injuredy), Gabriel Paletta (suspended)

Genoa injuries and suspensions

Juventus injuries and suspensions

The Nerazzurri completely dominated the early proceedings, so few would argue that they were unworthy of their advantage when Palacio nipped into the box to tap in Jonathan’s low cross in the 13th minute. However, it wasn’t long before their early dominance began to fade and the fans at Bentegodi started to urge their players forward. Soon enough, it was Verona who looked in the ascendency.

Verona started the second half equally brightly, but Inter never quite looked totally innocuous. The rather unimpressive Hernanes fired a warning shot ten minutes after the restart, crashing a free kick from the edge of the box against Rafael’s crossbar. Unfortunately for Hellas, it was a sign of things to come.

Hellas Verona injuries and suspensions

Out: Juanito Gómez, Alejandro Damián González (injured). In doubt: None.

In Week 28, try to look beyond the surface - some games that look as though they might be boring contain hidden secrets. Or at least can send up a flicker of a flame of interest. Except if you’re looking for thrills from Bologna or Lazio, of course.

And if you’re looking for a question to occupy your thoughts until games start on Saturday, you might give this one a think: Just why is Roma - Udinese scheduled for Monday evening, when neither of those sides is involved in European competition?