Milan makes harakiri, Naples and Fiorentina find their smiles again. The Monday night of the championship offers a sensational surprise, namely the defeat of the Rossoneri against Spezia, but also the return to success of the Azzurri and Viola, capable of beating Bologna and Genoa without any problems. However, it is evident that the cover, in spite of himself, is taken by Pioli's team, even if the serious error of the referee Serra weighs enormously on the ko at San Siro, who in fact denied the victory to the Devil: the whistle with which he cleared Messias goal, ignoring the advantage rule, it is very heavy given that it took place in full recovery, in the action prior to the Spezia goal.
"The referee apologized to us – revealed Pioli -. We feel sorry for the person, he immediately apologized and put his hands on his head because he immediately realized he was wrong ”. Beyond the mistake, however serious it may be (just think that The Hague, a more unique than rare event, even gave an official apology and that Serra will be stopped for a long time), however, the bad second half with which Milan frustrated the first, instead played very well and closed on 1-0 only for the many mistakes in front of goal, Hernandez above all, unfortunate in kicking out a penalty awarded by Serra for a foul by Provedel on Leao.
However, the Portuguese consoled himself immediately after finding the opening goal with a nice lob, just a moment before the break (46'). It seemed like the prelude to an easy victory, but everything changed in the second half because Spezia found more courage, also thanks to the physical decline of the Devil, evidently weakened by absences and post-Italian Cup fatigue. And so the Ligurians have found the draw with Agudelo (64'), forcing the Rossoneri to have to put their helmet back on, in search of 3 fundamental points in a tricolor key.
There were opportunities to win, but Thiago Motta's team also had theirs, confirming a long and disconnected Milan, at the mercy of events beyond any reasonable explanation. However, the match was decided in the recovery: first the goal disallowed by Messias, then the crossbar by Ibrahimovic, finally the counterattack by Kovalenko finalized by Gyasi, for the sensational 1-2 Spezia. “This defeat hurts, but it must not condition us – sighed Pioli -. It's an empty joke that we didn't want, we missed an opportunity. We weren't able to get the victory we wanted, but now we have to think about the next game. Everyone can have a bad day, but we need to get back to racing fast."
Opposite mood for Spalletti's Naples, who thanks to the success in Bologna gives a clean slate to what happened on Thursday in the Italian Cup. Winning was essential, especially since next Sunday there will be Milan-Juventus while the Azzurri will host Salernitana at the Maradona stadium. However, the favorable round would not have been such without Dall'Ara's 3 points, obtained thanks to an excellent performance in which especially Lozano shone, author of the decisive brace for the 2-0 final.
Chucky gave away a goal in each half, the first in the 20th minute with an assist from Elmas, the second in the 47th minute with a tap-in as elegant as it is ruthless after a good pass by Fabian Ruiz. However, reducing the Azzurri's victory to Mexico alone would be an understatement, given that the whole team played well and has annihilated Mihajlovic's Bologna, dangerous only in the final with a free-kick by Svanberg that ended up on the post.
Spalletti's team instead of had many opportunities and the fact that key men like Zielinski and Fabian Ruiz have returned cannot be a coincidence. The best news for Napoli, however, is the return to the field of Osimhen, who took over from Mertens in the 71st minute and came close to scoring in the 88th minute: the Nigerian is still far from his best form, and he also plays with a mask that can only condition his the overwhelming technical-athletic power, but even at 30% and with a reduced autonomy can still make the difference.
“When the team understands the way forward, it has very specific characteristics and its own why, but every now and then we lose that thread and become too soft, too banal – Spalletti commented -. We left spots on the street that are hard to find. We had a lot of absences, it's true, but there were games that could not have been lost and those in front are strong. We have to finish in the top four and we have the quality to do it, but sometimes losing our game is a problem”.
Obviously, the coach hasn't yet recovered from the disappointments of the last period, but he can look to the future with more optimism.
He then thought about closing the 22nd day Fiorentina, who literally annihilated Konko's Genoa. Yes, because while waiting for Bruno Labbadia, the German chosen by Sports Director in place of Shevchenko (he will arrive in Italy today and will direct the first training session tomorrow), it was the Frenchman who went on the bench and led the team in heavy 6-0 of the Franks. Odriozola, Bonaventura, Vlahovic, Biraghi (twice) and Torreira gave Italiano an evening of pure academy, which allowed Viola to go at 35 points like Rome and Lazio, with the Udine match still to be recovered. In the race for Europe, in short, there is also Fiorentina, while Genoa, more than change coaches, it would do well to intervene on the market, otherwise salvation will become truly impossible to achieve.
