Serie A, Week 5: Leaders roll on, Napoli win, Milan duo disappoint

AS Roma 2-0 Hellas Verona / Full match report here

Atalanta 0-3 Juventus

Four first half goals - including an unlikely hat-trick from Albin Ekdal condemned ten man Inter to their first defeat of the season and lifted Cagliari off the foot of Serie A. Yuto Nagatomo didn’t help his side’s cause when the stand in captain was dismissed for two silly fouls.

Before today, the Nerazzurri had conceded just one goal all season, while the Sardinians came into the game on the back of three successive defeats.

However, Napoli needed only one moment of class to break the deadlock, and Gonzalo Higuaín provided it just short of the half-hour mark. His venomous low cross from inside the penalty area perfectly picked out José Callejón at the back post, leaving the Spaniard with a routine finish for 1-0. Sassuolo failed to muster an immediate response, with the Neapolitans carrying their deserved advantage into the halftime break.

Sassuolo continued to look more and more dangerous as the game wore on, and went closest to finally drawing level with just over five minutes remaining. However, Federico Peluso’s volley was agonisingly deflected against the crossbar, and Napoli hung on for the win. The neroverdi, meanwhile, are still winless this season.

Napoli were expected to mount a serious challenge for the title at the start of the season, but so far Rafael Benítez’s team have performed way below expectations. They sit down in mid-table heading into round five, having picked up just one point in their last three games. Adding yet more pressure to the manager is that they can’t blame their underperformance on the rigours of European football -- they were eliminated from the Champions League in the playoff round.

Key player - Marek Hamšík (Napoli)

With the coming of the second half returned the Roma dominance, and it took just minutes for the giallorossi to start putting Hellas back under pressure. Francesco Totti forced a good save from young goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini, shortly before Adem Ljajić had a penalty shout turned down when he was felled in the area by substitute Gustavo Campanharo. The hosts went close again through summer signing Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, though the centre-back nodded Miralem Pjanić‘s corner just past Gollini’s near post.

The clock ticked on and still Verona continued to frustrate the hosts, until, with just over 15 minutes remaining, substitute Alessandro Florenzi found the back of the net. The young Italian let fly with a drilled effort from the edge of the penalty area, which proved unstoppable for Gollini.

Many predicted Verona to suffer a bad bout of second season syndrome this campaign, though so far they’ve been very impressive. However, their game away at Roma on Saturday will be the first time they’ve been seriously tested by one of the best teams in the league this season. Last season they were beaten 3-0 by the giallorossi when they visited the Olimpico.

Key player - Miralem Pjanić (AS Roma)