Napoli remain top of Serie A after picking up three vital points in a hard earned 2-0 victory away to Sampdoria.
After last week’s defeat to Inter Milan the SBOTOP odds shifted slightly away from Naples and that result made this weekend’s fixture a test of character for Luciano Spalletti’s men, even though their hosts are languishing in the bottom three.
And for much of the game it was a nervy affair as Gli Azzurri dominated possession and the shot counts but couldn’t put the game to bed. It started pretty well for the league leaders when star striker Victor Osimhen took a pass form Mario Rui and rifled his shot into the top left corner. Napoli peppered the Sampdoria goal but without further success in the first half, but their job seemed to become easier when Tomas Rincon felled Osimhen with a crude challenge and received his marching orders.
With almost an hour to play against ten men, Napoli had a great chance to pull away, but as the shots rained in Sampdoria defended stubbornly. Giovanni Di Lorenzo came close when his first time effort whistled inches wide and Stanslav Lobotka forced a great save from the Sampdoria stopper, but the second goal didn’t come until the 81st minute when Ronaldo Vieria handled in the penalty area and Eljif Elmas converted from the spot.
Juve make it a Magnificent Eight
Before Napoli had even taken the pitch Juventus had moved up to second place on 37 points, just four behind Gli Azzurri so it was vital that the leaders held their nerve.
Saturday’s 1-0 win over Udinese made it eight wins on the bounce for the Old Lady and the latest Serie A 2023 betting odds have pulled her in to fourth favourite for the Scudetto at a price of around 9.00; and that is a significant improvement on the early stages of the campaign.
Momentum is everything and Udinese goalkeeper Marco Silvestre did all he could to halt Juventus, pulling off some brilliant saves to keep out I Bianconeri. One stop from a Daniele Rugani header was breath-taking, but the visitors’ resistance was finally broken, four minutes time, when Danilo scored from point blank range. The Brazilian wingback had Federico Chiesa to thank after the striker chested a long ball down and hit a first time cross to the far post where Danilo had the easiest of tasks to grab all three points. It was a good win against a team which had performed superbly in the first half of the campaign and have only dropped out of the top six recently after a run of six games without a win.
Juve boss Max Allegri will be particularly pleased that his side also kept an eighth consecutive clean sheet and keeper Wojciech Szczesny can take some credit, keeping out three good efforts from Udinese. Juve fans will hope third placed AC Milan will stumble at home to Roma on Sunday night but it had already been a good weekend with another top four rival slipping up…
Inter frustrated by Monza
In other Serie A 2023 results, fourth placed Inter Milan failed to make any progress after conceding a late, late equaliser away to lowly Monza. The hosts have been clawing their way away from the drop zone and they fought to the last against their illustrious visitors, and were rewarded by Luca Caldirola’s 93rd minute leveller.
The afternoon started well enough for I Nerazzurri when former Manchester United wingback Matteo Darmian converted a cross from Alessandro Bastoni with just ten minutes on the clock. Patrick Ciurria equalised for Monza with a beautifully curled finish but Lautaro Martinez put Inter in charge again and that looked like it would be the winner until Caldirola headed in at the death.
Lazio let it go
At two goals to the good Lazio looked set to close the gap on the top four, but they remain fifth and three points behind Inter after Empoli pegged them back with two late goals. Felipe Anderson put the Romans ahead with just two minutes on the clock when he finished from a tight angle, and when Mattia Zaccagni stabbed home another goal early in the second half it looked like the hosts were coasting to another three points.
With 18 shots to five and four to two on target it’s difficult to work out how they ended up with only one, but Lazio’s wastefulness in front of goal and Empoli’s two on-target shots ending in the net gives you the answer. Francesco Caputo finished off a fast break on 83 minutes and then Lazio became wobbly; and when Razvan Marin rifled in a 93rd minute leveller the stadium fell silent. This weekend saw an opportunity missed…for both Lazio and Inter Milan.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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