Cagliari vs Genoa: Cagliari Continues with Another Strong Performance
The fourth week of Serie A matches had Cagliari and Genoa start the weekend off. Cagliari had come off a strong performance looking to continue where they left off. For Genoa, they were hoping to turn things around after losing in the last minute in their recent match against Atalanta. The game had a strong start with the midfield having a lot of space for both teams being able to advance and create chances.
The first chance of the game went to Genoa at the sixth minute when Peter Ankersen crossed the ball into the box to Riccardo Saponara but his shot had failed to hit the target.
Cagliari’s strong play against Genoa created a quality chance for the home team. In the 19th minute, Nahitan Nandez made a nice pass into the box with Joao Pedro connecting on a header but the header went straight at Ionut Radu.
The second half started with Cagliari picking up where they left off in the first half with more ball possession and this time capitalizing for their first goal of the game. Giovanni Simeone converted a beautiful cross from the left side of the box from Artur Ionita with a precise header and scoring on the low left side where Radu is unable to reach the ball.
At the 83rd minute Genoa tied the game through Cristian Kouame. After a nice back-heel pass to Kouame from Antonio Sanabria to confuse the defender, the striker made no mistake and tied the game up at 1.
Minutes later, Cagliari retook the lead once again as Nandez crossed the ball into the box however an unfortunate error by Cristian Zapata lead to an own goal as the defender headed the ball into his own net while defending the cross.
Cagliari scored their third goal of the game, giving Genoa no chance of coming back to tie the game. After a mix up between the Genoa players which involved Zapata being taken out by his own player, Cagliari went the opposite way on the counterattack. Genoa had two forwards attack while no defenders back to defend with Pedro sealing the victory with a goal on Radu. A strong performance by Cagliari and a well-deserved win.
Inter Milan vs AC Milan – The Derby Della Madonnina
The Derby Della Madonnina has come early this year and had the Nerazzurri control most of the game. AC Milan started the game under a bit of pressure with their defence unable to move the ball out from the back. In the first fifteen minutes of the game Inter had the majority of possession, however, didn’t do much at that point in the game.
Inter Milan had their first chance of the match at the 18th minute, when Hakan Calhanoglu gave the ball away outside the box, resulting in a chance for Romelu Lukaku. The forward got a nice shot off but Gianluigi Donnarumma made a fantastic save to keep the game at 0-0.
Inter continued to apply pressure, however, Milan had thought to taken the first lead of the match. At the 22nd minute mark of the game, AC Milan had a goal called back after a handball was called on Franck Kessie after Kwadwo Asamoah shot the ball into his arm while trying to clear the ball out of the zone. Inter avoided being down 1-0 while being the stronger team in the game.
In the second half, the first goal of the game finally arrived. In the 48th minute, Inter were awarded a free-kick at the left side of the net just outside the box. Stefano Sensi delivered a nice ball to Marcelo Brozovic which had then gone off of Rafael Leao, who made a poor blocking attempt and taking a deflection which ended up in the back of the net. Donnarumma was unable to make the save as the deflection had confused the goalkeeper. Video Assistant Referee was needed to see if Lautaro Martinez interfered with play, however, upon further review, the goal stood, as the forward didn’t make any attempt for the ball.
Milan’s struggles continued at the 77th minute as Inter Milan scored again to end any chance of AC Milan coming back. In his first Derby Della Madonnina, Lukaku scored the second goal for Inter and his first in a derby. The forward made a great run into the middle of the box to beat centre back Alessio Romagnoli and scoring a nice header from Nicolo Barella.
A strong game from Inter Milan finishes with a 2-0 victory over AC Milan.
Lazio returns to the win column after defeating Parma
Lazio entered their match against Parma, having lost two straight and hoping to turn that around. The Biancocelesti started the game strong controlling good ball possession while moving the ball upfield very clean. Lazio didn’t need to wait long to score the first goal of the game. Ciro Immobile received a nice pass from Luis Alberto which had gone through two defenders. The Italian received the ball nicely and moved it to the left of the net where he made no mistake scoring on the far-right side. Immobile opens the scoring and continues his strong start to the season as it’s the striker's fourth goal of the season.
Lazio continued their strong play in the game; however, Parma had their first clear chance against Lazio. Roberto Inglese had a clear chance on goal, as he made a right footed shot from the centre of the box, however, the shot is saved in the centre of the goal by Thomas Strakosha. The game had Lazio controlling most of the possession and constant attack with Luis Alberto, Joaquin Correa, Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic all displaying a strong performance. At the 67th minute of the game, Lazio sealed the win as Savic sent a nice pass to Adam Marusic at the right side of the box. The right-winger fought off the defender very well and allowing himself a right footed shot from a difficult angle that found the left corner of the net. After scoring their second goal of the game, Lazio controlled most of the game and limited Parma to very few chances in this game and winning with a final score of 2-0.
Match Recap
Elsewhere, Sassuolo played much better against SPAL after their previous game with AS Roma was disappointing. Francesco Caputo led the way with 2 goals as Sassuolo defeated SPAL 3-0. In Bologna, Roma needed a late winner from Edin Dzeko to help the Giallorossi win 2-1, even after being down a man for the last ten minutes.
At the Via Del Mare, Napoli had little trouble against Lecce. Napoli controlled most of the game getting two goals from newcomer, Fernando Llorente which helped Napoli defeat Lecce 4-1.
Torino had started the season strong winning their first two games of the season, however since the start after the International Break, they haven’t looked the same. Sampdoria defeated Torino on Sunday, where the Blucerchiati scored the only goal of the game from Manolo Gabbiadini. After a very poor start to the season, Sampdoria finally found their first win of the season and hopes to turn their season around after starting 0-3. As for Torino, a season that started strong has now looked different after losing two consecutive games.
Atalanta and Fiorentina featured an exciting match which had Timonthy Castagne scoring at the end of the game. In doing so, Atalanta were able to salvage a point against the Viola which continue to struggle to find their first win of the season. Fiorentina have now gone 18 games without a win.
Brescia needed a second-half goal from new acquisition Romulo to defeat Udinese. The newly-promoted squad has had a strong start to the season while Udinese have struggled.
Juventus barely scraped out a victory over newly-promoted Hellas Verona, after trailing 1-0 and Verona missing a penalty kick. The Bianconeri came from behind to win 2-1 after goals from Aaron Ramsey and Cristiano Ronaldo.