One week to go in Serie A and the drama is not yet over.
The title remains up for grabs in a straight fight between the two Milan giants, there’s still a battle for those final European spots and the bid to beat the drop remains on a knife’s edge.
Speaking of a knife’s edge…
Salernitana have spirit
And they showed plenty to keep alive their survival hopes by fighting back for a point in Empoli after Federico Bonazzoli’s superb bicycle kick cancelled out Patrick Cutrone’s opener.
However, it remains to be seen how costly a late Diego Perotti penalty, saved by Guglielmo Vicario, could be.
There was six minutes left on the clock when Mamadou Coulibaly and Simone Romagnoli both lunged at the same ball, the Salernitana man getting there millimetres earlier which led to a penalty being awarded following a VAR review.
Perotti stepped up but his spot-kick was fingertipped out of the bottom corner by Vicario.
Crucial?
Venezia go down fighting
In the Stadio Olimpico, the SBOTOP Serie A 2022 betting odds were all in favour of Roma as they hosted bottom club Venezia, whose relegation had been confirmed earlier in the day.
Then, after just 50 seconds, the basement battlers took the lead as David Okereke glanced home a header against a yet-to-wake-up defence.
Before they even had a chance to dream, Sofian Kiyine, already on a yellow card, kicked home midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini and Venezia had an hour to play with 10 men.
Somehow, they kept going against Jose Mourinho’s men, who will meet Feyenoord in the inaugural Europa Conference Final in 10 days’ time.
Venezia held out until 14 minutes from time when Niki Maenpaa denied Pellegrini but Eldor Shomurodov blasted the rebound into the roof of the net.
It was no more than Roma, who hit the woodwork four times, deserved, yet some credit goes to the bottom club whose spirit was evident in stoppage time when Maenpaa made a fine double save to keep out Shomurodov and Stephan El Shaarawy’s follow-up as Roma ended the game with 46 shots on goal – 16 on target.
Roma may yet need to win the Europa Conference to get back into Europe next term.
Farewell to a hero
Let’s start with the bare facts.
After 15 years in the Italian top flight, Genoa seem all but doomed.
This 3-0 reverse in Naples leaves them needing everything to go their way during the final week of the season, including a win at home to Bologna.
We will find that out soon enough.
This game though proved to be all about a home hero.
Lorenzo Insigne waved goodbye to Napoli fans and duly marked his last home match by converting a penalty, either side of Victor Osimhen and Stanislav Lobotka goals.
This was the final game at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for Insigne, who is heading to Toronto FC as a free agent, and he gave an emotional speech before kick-off.
Injury-hit Genoa may have known it wouldn’t be their day when they struck the crossbar early on and the ball bounced to safety.
Osimhen opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when he was allowed to ghost between centre-backs and turn Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s cross into the far bottom corner with a glancing header.
Just before the midway point of the second half, Insigne got the opportunity the majority of those present craved as he converted a penalty into the top corner.
There was still time for Lobotka to put the icing on the cake for Napoli – already qualified for next season’s Champions League – as he embarked on a run from his own half and drilled low into the near bottom corner.
Insigne was given a standing ovation as he was substituted in the final minutes. A fitting farewell to a hero.
Capital clubs do their bit
We know the Scudetto is heading to Milan, but which club?
After a campaign in which both AC and Inter have produced Serie A 2022 highlights, there can only be one winner – and it is going to the wire.
With a game to go, Milan remain two points clear of Inter, who won the Coppa Italia on Wednesday to add to the Super Cup trophy they lifted in January.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan side have not lost in the league since mid-January, a run of 15 matches,
Against a well-organised Atalanta side at the San Siro, Rafael Leao broke the deadlock 11 minutes after the break before Theo Hernandez made the game safe with an impressive run that he started on the edge of his own penalty area, shaking off five opponents until he slipped the finish into the far bottom corner.
The home fans were in raptures, Atalanta’s European hopes have been severely damaged and Inter fulfilled their duties with a Lautaro Martinez double helping see off Cagliari.
In the process, he became the sixth player in Inter’s history to score 20 goals in a single Serie A season before turning 25.
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