Napoli served up their second successive 5-0 demolition when Lazio rolled into town, Juventus got off the mark for the season, Inter extended their lead at the summit of the table and Roma were held at home to Sassuolo. It was yet another frantic matchday in Serie A and below are this weekend's talking points.
A penny for Diego Maradona's thoughts
The Napoli legend was candid in his assessment of new boss, Maurizio Sarri, after the Partenopei had contrived to draw 2-2 at the home of cellar-dwellars Empoli last weekend.
“I respect Sarri, but he’s not the right coach for a winning Napoli,” the Argentine told Naples television station Piuenne after the result.
That was on Monday afternoon and, just over 72 hours later, the ex-Empoli boss had offered the most brutal of riposte’s during Napoli’s Europa League opener against Club Brugge.
His side were ruthless in their 5-0 demolition of the Belgian’s on Thursday evening, in a performance that contained all the hallmarks of a Maurizio Sarri side.
Sunday evening’s 5-0 rout of Lazio, then, must have blown Maradona’s sentiment out of the water. Granted, the visitors were obliging opponents on the night, but not since Walter Mazzarri’s heyday in the Napoli dugout have the Partenopei yielded such a convincing display.
Gonzalo Higuain appears to have rediscovered his mojo in attack. Lorenzo Insigne is burgeoning as an auxiliary No. 10. Jose Callejon looks rejuvenated. And, most importantly, midfielder Allan has acclimatised to life under the Italian’s tutelage remarkably swiftly — the ex-Udinese midfielder netted his second of the campaign on Sunday evening.
“Maradona can say what he wants,” beamed Sarri after the victory. “He is and will always be my idol." A classy reponse to the most knee-jerk of comments.
Did Inter show a mark of champions?
It was conspicuously absent in the post-mortem that followed Inter’s limp 1-0 victory over Chievo that their opponents, who downed Lazio and earned a creditable point at the home of the champions, are an impressive outfit under Rolando Maran this term.
Roberto Mancini’s side were slow out of the blocks on Sunday afternoon and were fortunate to head into the dressing room at half-time a goal to the good.
Mauro Icardi opened his account for the season four minutes before the interval after Gary Medel had provided the most deftest of flicks to deny Ricccardo Meggiorini a tap in minutes earlier.
Inter, while ruing the decision making of Ivan Perisic and Icardi, rode their luck in the second period and escaped with their 100% record unblemished.
They sit atop the Serie A table after a month and have yet to convince as a side. But, should the Scudetto dream come to fruition, the consistency fostered at the beginning of the campaign will appear retrospectively vital.
Roma yet to exorcise demons of last season
Talk of the title was understandably ubiquitous after last month’s triumph over Juventus. At long last, the Giallorossi had finally overcame the mental obstacle the champions had posed and, more pertinently, they looked the more equipped of the two sides.
But having returned from the week hiatus after the international break, Rudi Garcia’s side have seemingly reverted to their old selves; the side who developed a propensity for draws and one in which convincing displays during the second-half of the campaign were scarce.
Many of their old flaws returned to the fore in last week’s 2-0 victory over Frosinone and, during Sunday afternoon’s visit from Sassuolo, the parallels were yet again laid bare for all to see.
Profligate, complacent and defensively porous, Roma found themselves behind twice on an afternoon where Mohamed Salah — Roma’s brightest spark — required a fistful of chances before netting a sumptuous volley four minutes after the restart.
To validate their title credentials, Garcia’s side must exorcise the demons of the last season.
Congratulations to Francesco Totti!
Not only did the Roma stalwart net his 300th goal in his 745th game for the club, but he has now scored against 18 of the 20 sides which reside in the Serie A standings. The two clubs that he has yet to score against? Top flight debutants, Carpi and Frosinone.
Juve return to winning ways
Max Allegri branded his side’s 2-0 win over Genoa an “important victory” on Sunday afternoon as Juve recorded their first three points of the campaign.
Paul Pogba was instrumental in both goals as it was the Frenchman’s side-footed effort that cannoned off the crossbar and back of Genoa No.1 Eugenio Lamanna to break the deadlock. His second arrived from the penalty-spot after Giorgio Chiellini was bundled over on the hour mark.
What will please Allegri the most, however, would be the displays of both Juan Cuadrado and Mario Lemina. Both arrived late in the transfer window and, unlike Mario Mandzukic et al, were shorn of a pre-season to assimilate to the rigours of Turin.
The ex-Fiorentina winger impressed against Manchester City in midweek and has engendered the switch from a more central-orientated 4-3-1-2 to a more dynamic 4-3-3.
Bacca gunning for Capocannoniere
Carlos Bacca took his goal tally in rossoneri to three on Saturday evening as Milan squeezed past a resolute Palermo side
It was fixture that perhaps highlighted the Colombian’s importance and one in which the side would have likely surrendered under Pippo Inzaghi last term.
Both goals arrived at crucial junctures in the game and his second, in particular, was as predatory as they come. Darting across Giancarlo Gonzalez’s line of sight, the forward directed his header across goal and into the bottom corner.
Promising, too, was the rapport he has struck with Luiz Adriano. Mario Balotelli may have impressed in his fleeting cameo against Inter but, with no European commitments to juggle, Sinisa Mihajlovic has sufficient weapons at his disposal to mount a surge up the table.