Matchday 23 of the 2019/20 Serie A saw shock defeats for Roma, Juventus, and Napoli, Lazio return to winning ways, and a thrilling Derby Della Madonnina.
Roma 2-3 Bologna
The Rossoblu took the lead through a Riccardo Orsolini from a pass from the in-form Musa Barrow. It was all tied when a cross from the left was put into his own net by Bologna defender Stefano Denswil. He then got the assist as his pass to Barrow whose shot took a wicked deflection and looped into the Giallorossi goal. Barrow then scored a wonderful solo goal ghosting past the home side’s defense to guide the ball into the far corner. Henrikh Mkhitaryan grabbed a consolation header for the hosts.
Fiorentina 1-2 Atalanta
La Viola took the lead on the half an hour mark as Federico Chiesa collected the ball, controlled and volleyed from 25 yards out. La Dea launched a comeback to take the victory… A goal set up by Josip Ilicic & Papu Gomez was finished off by Duvan Zapata. 20 minutes later Ruslan Malinovskiy hit a low drive to the far corner and the points were the Bergamaschi’s.
Torino 1-3 Sampdoria
The Granata took the lead early in the second half as a long pass from Alex Berenguer was met by Simone Verdi and he had enough power to swing his left boot to score. The Ligurians, however, came back with three goals to clinch it. Gaston Ramirez grabbed a double; firstly with a superb free-kick and then, after being set up by Fabio Quagliarella, he powered the striker’s pass into the goal. Quagliarella then scored a penalty to complete the scoring.
Verona 2-1 Juventus
Well deserved victory for the home side over the champions… Just after the hour mark, the Bianconeri took the lead with a fine solo goal from Cristiano Ronaldo. He played a one-two with Rodrigo Bentancur, ran onto the ball, beat his covering defender and slotted the ball into the far corner. In the space of 10 minutes though, the Veronese scored twice to gain the win. Miralem Pjanic failed to clear the ball, Fabio Borini ran onto it, opened himself up and scored into the far corner. Then Leonardo Bonucci handled the ball while defending a corner and Giampaolo Pazzini put away the penalty.
Spal 1-2 Sassuolo:
Kevin Bonifazi scored for the hosts with a header after a free-kick was not cleared by the Neroverdi. Just after the hour mark, Francesco Caputo scored a penalty. The away side grabbed a late, late winner as a Domenico Berardi cross was headed home by that man again, Jeremie Boga.
Brescia 1-1 Udinese
A goal apiece in the last 10 minutes meant a share of the spoils; Dimitri Bisoli powered home a rebound and then in stoppage time, Rodrigo De Paul’s shot took a deflection into the goal.
Napoli 2-3 Lecce
On the half an hour mark, I Salenti took the lead with a tap in from Gianluca Lapadula. Then Arkadiusz Milik scored with a shot into the roof of the net from a Napoli attack down the left. Lapadula then grabbed his second with a brilliant header from a Falco cross and Marco Mancosu made it 3-1 with a scorching free-kick from 35 yards out. Jose Callejon got a goal in the 90th minute, but it was a mere consolation.
Genoa 1-0 Cagliari
A single Goran Pandev won this one for the Grifone; a cross come shot from the Macedonian found it’s way into the net after missing everyone in the box.
Parma 0-1 Lazio
The only goal of this game came just before the half-time interval… A cross came in from the right took touches of both teams’ players, fell kindly to Felipe Caicedo, and he swung his right boot to score. The Crociati pushed hard and had a shout for a penalty, but the Biancocelecti bounced back after dropping points to Verona mid-week.
Inter 4-2 Milan
A game of two halves in the 225th installment of the Milan Derby… The Rossoneri scored two first-half goals through Ante Rebic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede set up the Croatian with a header and he scored one of his own from a corner. The Nerazzurri though fought back after the interval to take the spoils in the city rivalry. Firstly, Marcelo Brozovic with a volley and Matias Vecino with a goal from an Alexis pass all within the space of two minutes. Stefan de Vrij scored with a header to give Il Biscione the lead; Christian Eriksen and Ibrahimovic hit the post for either side before Romelu Lukaku powered home a header late on to secure the three points.
Attentions turn to the Coppa Italia semi-finals first leg, as Napoli host Inter and Milan host Juventus.
