Serie A round-up: Juventus show signs of life and Napoli romp to win
Juventus 1-0 Fiorentina
Juventus picked up their first victory in three Serie A (SA) matches at the Allianz Stadium following a 1-0 victory over ACF Fiorentina.
Hoping to extend their one-sided home H2H record after registering eight victories in their last nine meetings, Juventus found themselves more involved with referee Michael Fabbri than in the final third, as Adrien Rabiot went into the book within the 120 seconds, while Ángel Di María was lucky to escape without a caution for an act of dissent.
Fiorentina began encouragingly at the Allianz Stadium as Wojciech Szczęsny had to remain alert to any impending danger in the Juve goal.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side had the first sight on target in the 24th minute as Pietro Terracciano assertively pushed out Filip Kostić’s fearsome strike for a corner.
However, the Bianconeri were ahead in the 34th minute when Rabiot’s back-post header crept over the goal line, despite the best efforts of Terracciano before the two sides made their separate ways down the Allianz Stadium tunnel for HT.
With only league-leaders SSC Napoli and second-placed Inter Milan registering more SA victories this season, Juventus thought they had taken another step closer to a 13th success.
However, VAR came to the visitors’ rescue, disallowing Dušan Vlahović’s one-on-one effort after deciding the former Fiorentina attacker had strayed marginally offside.
Determined to kill off the contest, Vlahović’s replacement from the substitutes’ bench, Moise Kean, was next to come close for Allegri’s side, only for the Italian international to be denied by a sublime save from Terracciano.
Juventus then survived a late scare when Gaetano Castrovilli’s exquisite volley was disallowed due to offside in the build-up. Victory moves Juventus to within 10 points of the intensely-competitive SA European qualification positions.
Meanwhile, La Viola will hope results pick up sooner rather than later after failing to register a victory in their last five SA matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Adrien Rabiot (Juventus)
Napoli 3-0 Cremonese
Napoli cruised to victory as they defeated Cremonese 3-0 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The result means Le Tigri continue to search for a first victory of the season, as they continue to prop up the Serie A (SA) table.
Expected to break all manner of scoring records tonight against winless minnows Cremonese, leaders Napoli came into the game with only one team having scored more opening goals in SA this season, and Gli Azzurri made a quick start to keep that trend going.
The opener came after 22 minutes, when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia picked up the ball before dancing past his marker and placing the ball into the far bottom corner.
Already with the perfect 22nd birthday present to his name, the Georgian went close to doubling his and Napoli’s tally just five minutes later, as he rose highest to meet Giovanni Di Lorenzo's floating cross, but he could only direct his header wide of the upright.
That aside, Napoli – perhaps with one eye on their UEFA Champions League first leg trip to Frankfurt later this month – were not as devastating as many expected them to be, ensuring an eventual 1-0 HT scoreline that many visiting fans would have taken as a moral victory in itself.
Prior to this round of fixtures, only Erling Haaland boasted more non-penalty goals than Victor Osimhen in Europe’s top five leagues.
So it came as no surprise when the Nigerian striker got in on the goalscoring, as he showed off his poacher’s instinct to prod the ball home from inside the six-yard box to get on the scoresheet for the sixth consecutive SA game.
The home side’s ruthless nature truly began to shine through in the latter stages, as they went three goals ahead through substitute Eljif Elmas, who finished off a brilliant move with a low strike across the goalkeeper and into the far bottom corner.
Napoli saw the game out with ease to extend their winning SA run to six games and go 16 points clear at the top of the table, ahead of Inter Milan’s visit to Sampdoria tomorrow evening.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (SSC Napoli)
