Command the Napoli. Sunday of Serie A certifies the first place in the ranking of the Azzurri, who jumped to the top thanks to the Cagliari's victory, but also to the unexpected draws of Inter e Juventus. The Nerazzurri, like their rivals Juventus, also made a half-false step in Monza (1-1), allowing Conte's team to overtake. In the upper part of the table, they are also smiling Atalanta (3-2 over Fiorentina) and Milan (two points recovered on Inter and Juventus), while the same cannot be said for Roma, stopped by Genoa in full recovery (1-1) and of the Torino, unable to go beyond the 0-0 home draw against Lecce. Today, to complete the picture, Parma-Udinese (18pm, Dazn) and Lazio-Verona (20pm, Dazn and Sky), with the Biancocelesti ready to attack the noble part of the championship.
Monza – Inter 1-1: Dumfries avoids defeat for Inzaghi
Inter's Inzaghi could have taken first place alone, instead it slipped on the banana peel prepared by Nesta's Monza. A match lacking in emotions ended with a fair draw, even if the Nerazzurri managed to catch it only in the final: for a few minutes, in fact, it was the Brianza team who had the key to the problem, even if the substance changes relatively. Inter wanted to win to give the first sign of strength to the championship, instead ended up getting bogged down in the red and white trap, made of tactics, running and a lot of sacrifice. Inzaghi's tactical plan, based on a reasoned turnover (Bastoni, Barella and Calhanoglu out, Lautaro confirmed) was useless regardless of the upcoming commitments: the coach, evidently, did not trust Monza and the facts proved him right. The match, lacking in spectacle for long stretches, came to life in the final stages thanks to Nesta's team, surprisingly in the lead thanks to the header by Dany Mota (81'), who had come on shortly before in place of Caprari. At that point Inter, until then lacking any noteworthy flashes, seriously feared losing it, but Carlos Augusto and Dumfries took care of getting them out of trouble, the first with a nice run on the left, the second with the tap-in for the final 1-1 (88').
Inzaghi: “They scored a wonder goal, it’s a shame about the result”
“The approach was good, in the first 20 minutes we created a lot – Inzaghi's analysis -. We had to be good at unlocking it, last season we succeeded but this time we didn't, we had important opportunities but then we were slow to move the ball around. We had little quality in the last pass, we had to shoot and instead we put the ball in with little clarity. Monza defended low, they played a great game and we had to be better. In the second half we were slow, when we had more we conceded a goal. We were good at keeping our distance, but we had to do better, we conceded a great goal by Mota, then we reacted by equalizing. We are disappointed, but we move on”.
Cagliari – Napoli 0-4: Lukaku and Kvara drag the Azzurri to the top of the league
To fully enjoy, in light of the results of others, is like this Conte's Napoli, capable of conquering Cagliari with a clear 0-4 and making the most of the missteps of the competition. The Azzurri thus return to winning three games in a row after a year and a half of waiting, but above all they find themselves at the top of the standings, all this with just one week to go Turin's super challenge against Juventus. The final result, in light of what was seen on the pitch, is certainly exaggerated, but Napoli had the merit of holding out in the most difficult moments, then finding the plays of Lukaku (one goal and two assists) and Kvaratskhelia at the right time. It must be said that the match immediately went downhill thanks to the deflection of Jerry Mina on a shot by Di Lorenzo (18'), as well as that Meret was the protagonist of some very important interventions on Mina himself, Piccoli, Luperto and Marin, however Conte's team was able to resist and exploit their weapons at the right moment. Lukaku, already the protagonist of the assist to Di Lorenzo, repeated himself by sending Kvaratskhelia to the goal for the 2-0 (66'), after which he took it upon himself to finish off the third goal on a pass from the Georgian (70'). Buongiorno (90+3') completed the picture on the developments of a corner taken by Neres, thus giving Conte the sole primacy in Serie A (waiting for Udinese, playing today in Parma).
Conte: “We are working hard, we can see the growth but we only think about ourselves”
“This is a group that over the years didn't like to get its hands dirty,” Conte pointed out. “After what happened last year, the change lies in these situations, because in addition to the technical qualities and organization, we will also be able to turn things around in terms of personality and mentality. After the defeat in Verona something has changed, the boys understood what I meant and we are working on desire and determination. Keeping a clean sheet, suffering, was important because it is part of growth. The market ended late and we are looking for a solution, but in these two months we have worked hard and it shows”.
Genoa – Roma 1-1: De Winter outwits De Rossi in injury time
Another misstep for Roma, forced to postpone their first win in the championship. The draw at Marassi feels like a missed opportunity, both because it came in injury time and because of the consequences for the standings: the Giallorossi now occupy a melancholic 15th place, the result of only 3 points collected in four games. De Rossi can complain about the incidents (in the first half there was a penalty on Dybala), but talking about bad luck would be meaningless. His Rome, after an excellent start, gradually deflated, eventually giving in to Genoa's attempts at a comeback. Conceding De Winter's equaliser in the 96th minute (a mistake by new signing Hermoso, who replaced the injured Saelemaekers) was the consequence of an incomprehensible decline, given that the Giallorossi could have closed the game much earlier if only they had confirmed the good first half, brought home at 0-1 thanks to Dovbyk's first goal in Serie A (37'). De Rossi's team then came close to doubling the lead with Saelemaekers and Koné, but in the second half, after another chance from the Ukrainian, they no longer created anything important, against a dangerous Genoa with Ekuban and Malinovskyi (twice), until the final mockery of De Winter.
De Rossi: “Incomprehensible second half. The objective? To go to the Champions League”
“I’m not happy,” sighed De Rossi, who was sent off at the end for protesting. “We dominated the first half, but in the second half we dropped back and never started again. This happens because we stop running and winning duels, I didn’t ask to drop 20 meters. When it happens you have to be ready and instead we didn’t create anything, I saw the numbers and they are in our favor, but games need to be closed out. I don’t understand why we did this in the second half. I think this team should fight for the Champions League, is our goal, even if there are many teams that can finish ahead of or behind us. Our market is important for the project, I am convinced that we will play our cards until the end. These points, however, weigh on the standings and on morale, winning would have been good”.
