Il Milan rises again, Rome sinks. This past Sunday in Serie A was red and black, with the Devil capable of beating the Giallorossi in the big match at San Siro and securing third place in the standings, minus 9 behind leaders Inter but +9 over fifth-placed Lazio.
La battle for fourth place is one of the most exciting of the championship, also because the contenders are anything but continuous: Fiorentina's draw (2-2 with Udinese) and Bologna's defeat (2-1 in Cagliari) launch Lazio, victorious over Lecce (1-0), 1 minus from the Champions League zone, waiting for Atalanta who, in the event of success against Frosinone (20.45 pm), would put them in fifth place.
Milan – Roma 3 – 1, the French (Adli, Giroud and Theo Hernandez) secure third place, the Giallorossi increasingly down
The “no margin for error” challenge was won by Milan, capable of taking i 3 points in the face of a mediocre Roma, weakened by the absence of Dybala and the greater quality of the Rossoneri. The Devil has legitimized the 3-1 final well before the stone was thrown Theo Hernandez (84'), useful above all to chase away the ghosts of last season, when the Giallorossi managed to come back from 2 goals deep into injury time. This time, despite the penalty from Paredes with 20' left to go (69'), there was no crazy ending, on the contrary the Devil legitimized the victory with a stone to the crossbar by Hernandez which was unstoppable for poor Svilar, launched from the first minute due to a technical choice.
The match actually ended at that moment, but it is right to underline that Milan first broke the deadlock (Adli at 11'), then doubled (Giroud in the 56th minute), finally managed the Roma outburst as best as possible, without disdaining some potentially dangerous plays. Rome? Not received, despite protests with referee Guida (Mancini and Cristante, who have been warned by a booking, have been warned and will miss the match against Verona, who did not blow the whistle for any red pencil episode).
Pioli rejoices: “Undeserved criticism! We have to prove our worth."
“At 2-1 the games had reopened, we should have closed it earlier – he explained Pioli -. We managed the moment well, but the third goal brought us serenity back towards the end. We should have had a few more points and we pay for those four games in which we only collected two points despite not playing that badly. However, it is useless to think about what we could have done, it is better to focus on the present and future between the championship and the Europa League. I am not worried or annoyed or touchy about certain criticisms, we have raised expectations on our own with our path in recent years. It's normal that we expected to advance in the Champions League or win all the matches. When certain goals don't arrive, criticism is normal, but it's important to work seriously and find solutions and improvements. There season is long to demonstrate our value. Take us out of the championship fight though, our goal is to have a better second round than the first round."
Lazio – Lecce 1-0, Felipe Anderson brings the Biancocelesti to fifth place
The other winner on Sunday, all things considered, it is the Sarri's Lazio, rose to fifth place thanks to the success against Lecce and the contemporary flops of Fiorentina and Bologna. L'1-0 signed by Felipe Anderson (58') certifies the change of skin of the Biancocelesti, much less accustomed to the spectacle than before, but once again effective when it comes to scoring points. With yesterday's victory, the consecutive victories in the championship have become four, a very respectable mini-thread that has restored shine to an unsatisfactory ranking; if to these we add the derby won in the Italian Cup, this explains the Lazio's golden moment, once again making a loud statement in the Champions League area and determined to go to Arabia to play for its chances in the Super Cup. Furthermore, it is significant that it was Felipe Anderson who signed the card, deployed by Sarri as a false nine: a solution implemented many times last season and to be proposed again while waiting to get the best Immobile back.
Sarri satisfied: "Playing at 12.30 was an ambush, we dodged it well"
"It was a very difficult match for many reasons, there was a down risk against an opponent who has always created difficulties, and for a time we paid for it - the Sarri's comment -. Playing at half past twelve was an ambush, but it would have been difficult even if we had played at 21pm. Felipe Anderson? When he played as a false 9 he almost always did well and even the story of the expiring contract is typically Italian: in England it is normal to talk about it at the end of the season, there will be time to resolve. There Super Cup in Arabia? It is the parenthesis of a championship that needs money, but that seeks it in the least appropriate ways."
