By Edoardo Stella
Results from round 29 of the 2020/21 season:
Serie A table:
Milanās home struggle
It took Milan until minute 87 to equalise against Sampdoria, with substitute Jens-Petter Hauge scoring the 1-1 to help his side get at least a point.
Claudio Ranieriās team showed up to play their game and were able to create difficulties for the home side, who are winless at the San Siro in the last two months.
Fabio Quagliarella made great use of a mistake from Theo Hernandez when playing out from the back, lobbing the goalkeeper and putting his side ahead. Sampdoria were in heaven for a minute, before Adrien Silva was sent off with an error unusual for a player of his experience.
Milan only got 23 points at home, compared to 37 away: a shocking comparison.
Atalanta back running with the Columbian duo
3-2 for Atalanta, against a good Udinese side that remained in the match all throughout. Two goals from Luis Muriel, plus another one from his compatriot Duvan Zapata helped La Dea to consolidate their third place in the league.
Muriel is in the form of his life, already being past his goalscoring record in a single season, getting to 18 Serie A goals, plus four in the other competitions.
At 30 years-old, the Columbian is finding a second youth.
Verona up to eighth with leader Antonin Barak
Verona mount on Cagliari, who after Leonardo Sempliciās great first games as new coach, seem to be back in a struggling situation. The Gialloblu move past Sassuolo in the table, thanks to Barakās opening goal and Kevin Lasagnaās counter-attack in the last seconds.
Barak was a rising star in the Serie A a few years ago, having a splendid breakout season with Udinese in 2018, but couldnāt maintain his form and quickly disappeared from the spotlights.
Ever since his transfer to Verona, the Czech midfielder found his form back, as seven goals make him the teamās goalscorer.Ā
Embed from Getty ImagesEntertaining clash at the Stadio Vigorito
Benevento and Parma produced a fun match, in a 2-2 draw that is more useful for Benevento, who still leave with the most regrets. The home side were ahead with a few minutes to go and a win would have projected them so close to survival.
Parma had to win the game to keep their hopes alive, but found themselves chasing twice to Kamil Glik and Artur Ionitaās goals, not two players you would expect to find on the scoresheet. Jasmin Kurtic and Dennis Man helped Parma get a point.
Embed from Getty ImagesHarmless draw for Genoa and Fiorentina
Fiorentinaās league break was affected by Cesare Prandelli resigning from his position as coach, which led to former manager Giuseppe Iachini being called back.
Dusan Vlahovic helped La Viola respond to a beautiful opener finished by Mattia Destro. The striker finalised a great combination between Davide Zappacosta and Gianluca Scamacca.
Itās only the second time the striker finds more than 10 Serie A goals since 2014, as after the initial scare, Genoa seem to be in a great position to remain in the league for a further year.Ā
Nigerians are protagonist in a crazy 4-3
Napoli and Crotone produced a stunning result, as Gennaro Gattusoās side were shocked by Crotoneās attacking prowess.
Crotoneās real issue is their defence, which was evident against Napoli, somehow losing a match in which they scored three goals. They scored seven goals in the last three games but got zero points.
Nigerians Simy (two goals) and Victor Osimhen were on the scoresheet in a game that saw six different goalscorers and a lot of emotions.
Roma slow down against troubled Sassuolo
Sassuolo were in emergency, considering they opted to not call out all the players on international duty, including starters like Domenico Berardi, Francesco Caputo, Mert Muldur and Manuel Locatelli.
When Lorenzo Pellegrini converted the 1-0 penalty it looked like it could be an easy day for the Giallorossi, but this Sassuolo side never gives up and caught up twice, also to Bruno Peresā goal with Hamed Traore and youngster Giacomo Raspadori, captain on the occasion, who gifted a point to his side within five minutes to the end.
Embed from Getty ImagesLate-man Caicedo responds to Verdeās stunner
Lazio came out as winners in a thrilling end of the match against Spezia, which saw an overhead kick, a late penalty and two red cards. Lazio found the net first, but Spezia winger Daniele Verde equalised with a potential goal of the season.
The Ecuadorian Felipe Caicedo, however, stood up for his team, sealing the win with a penalty, as he is a specialist in winning goals.
In stoppage time there were two red cards for Lazio, but there wasnāt enough time for Spezia, who come out with disappointment after a courageous game.
Balance in the Turin derby
Antonio Sanabriaās heroic performance wasnāt enough for Torino to claim all three points against rivals Juventus, who most likely are abandoning all title hopes and are now joint-fourth with Napoli, with their top-four place at risk.
Federico Chiesa put Juventus in front, but the Bianconeri were unable to control the game and were overturned by Sanabriaās brace, who made use of two mistakes from goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Cristiano Ronaldo made it 24 on his campaign to at least salvage a draw for Juventus, who still leave unhappy.
Inter make a step towards the title
Inter give continuity to their pre-break form, conquering all three points in typical Antonio Conte fashion.
The Nerazzurri let Bologna play their game, making good use of their mistakes to hit on a counter-attack and conceded little at the back, despite allowing large chunks of play to their opponents.
It was Romelu Lukaku who scored the winning goal, as Inter have won every match since Matchday 20, only conceding three goals in the last 11 games.
For Edoardoās previous Serie A column click here.
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