Serie A, Round 31: Roma beat Parma in a spectacular match two months in the making

It was worth waiting two months for this.

Roma vs. Parma was meant to take place back in February, but a severely waterlogged pitch at the Stadio Olimpico meant the match was suspended after just eight minutes. Wednesday’s match, kicking off in the ninth minute, offered up 80-plus minutes of some of the most entertaining football seen in Serie A this season.

However, by halftime the game had turned, and the home side were frustrated to not be ahead. They twice carved straight through the porous elefanti defence in the final 10 minutes of the first period, with Di Natale denied when one-on-one with Mariano Andújar before Nico López mishit Allan’s cross just metres from goal.

But rather than sit back feeling sorry for themselves, the elefanti suddenly looked like a team fighting for their Serie A lives. They forced Scuffet into four excellent saves in the final 20 minutes; unable to draw level despite their newfound sense of urgency. Six points adrift of safety with seven games to play, Rolando Maran’s side need a miracle.

Udinese injuries and suspensions

Out: None. In doubt: None.

Sure enough, Juve came out for the second half looking to seize control of the game, but were still unable to break down a notoriously porous Napoli defence. Substitute Mirko Vučinić curled a long-range effort just wide seconds after coming on, though otherwise the bianconeri’s goalscoring chances were rather few and far between.

Napoli: Reina; Ghoulam, Albiol, Fernández, Henrique; Jorginho, Inler; Insigne, Hamšík (Mertens 79’), Callejón (Džemaili 89’); Higuaín (Pandev 74’)

Come to think of it, that could sum up the entire second half of Fiorentina’s season.

Since Giuseppe Rossi went down with injury in early January, Fiorentina have scored just fifteen goals. Their attack isn’t gelling and individual forwards look more desperate to make an impression than to help out the team. With just two wins in eight matches, Fiorentina are still in fifth - somehow - but have lost all hope of a Champions League finish and, at this rate, could find themselves out of Europe all together.

Roma continued to control and create chances as the half wore on, but the biggest talking point of the half took place at the other end. Nicola Sansone rushed on to a ball that took a favourable ricochet in midfield and burst into the box, only to stumble over under pressure from Mehdi Benatia. The referee initially didn’t give a penalty but this was then overturned by the assistant behind the goal. Long discussions then ensued, with Sassuolo wanting Benatia to be sent off and Roma wanting the penalty to be taken away. After much confusion, the referee eventually rescinded the penalty and Roma were given the drop-ball, which appeared to be the right decision as replays showed minimal contact, if any, between Benatia and Sansone.

In the second half, Roma were a shadow of themselves in the first and Sassuolo were afforded a number of chances which never quite came off. Nicola Sansone and Domenico Berardo both scooped near-identical efforts over the bar from 18 yards.

Juve will look to move ever closer to sealing their crown away at the frustratingly-inconsistent Napoli on Sunday. The partenopei are currently six points adrift of second-placed Roma and ten clear of fourth-placed Fiorentina, with the Coppa Italia the only thing they really have to play for this season. Still, there is always a pride in taking points from the imperious Juventus, so Rafael Benítez will absolutely be fielding the strongest team he has at his disposal.

Napoli injuries and suspensions

Sassuolo injuries and suspensions

Roma injuries and suspensions

We can pretend this weekend features matches beyond Napoli - Juventus, but really...well, with the exception of Sampdoria - Fiorentina, it looks like the other matches will be cautious, dull affairs.

But it’s Italy, where calcio likes to defy logic and reason. So there’s always a good reason to watch. Except for Bologna matches. We won’t try to justify watching those.