Milan and Roma fight to a stalemate, meanwhile, Napoli returned to winning ways in an emotional fixture.
AC Milan 2-2 Roma
AC Milan let a victory over AS Roma slip out of their hands on Sunday. The formation of coach Stefano Pioli was on its way to a victory for a long time, but got the lid on the nose against José Mourinho’s team in the final phase.
Milan caught up with leader Napoli during the week, but had something to make up for on Sunday when the number one in Serie A won at Sampdoria (0-2). Meanwhile, Juventus had also taken over second place from the Milanese. Milan seemed to regain that spot. Pierre Kalulu headed in from a corner kick after half an hour and Tommaso Pobega rounded off a counter in the second half.
It was Pobega’s first Serie A goal for Milan. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t worth gold. First it was after 87 minutes Roger Ibañez who brought back the tension. The goal seemed to come too late for Roma, but Tammy Abraham still signed for the 2-2 in extra time Keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu had another save on an attempt by Nemanja Matic. He had no chance on Abraham’s rebound.
Juventus thus remained in second place in Serie A on goal difference. Roma is on 31 points, only three less than number four Internazionale. The top four in Italy qualify for the group stage of the Champions League at the end of the ride.
Sampdoria 0-2 Napoli
Napoli continues to lead convincingly in Serie A. The team of coach Luciano Spalletti won 0-2 against low-flyer Sampdoria in Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday. And has a seven-point lead over number two Juventus.
Before the game, the death of Gianluca Vialli was impressively remembered. The former footballer, who died this week, played for Sampdoria between 1984 and 1992. During a minute of silence, not only shirts from Vialli were shown on the sidelines. But also from Sinisa Mihajlovic, who died last month. After all, it was the first official home game for Sampdoria since Mihajlovic, a former player and coach of the club, passed away.
Sampdoria, which took office with Bram Nuytinck and Sam Lammers, seemed to be off to a false start. A foul by Nicola Murru on André-Frank Zambo Anguissa resulted in a penalty for Napoli. Which was shot onto the post by Matteo Politano. After eighteen minutes, Napoli took the lead: Victor Osimhen acted as the end point of a successful counter.
The task was made even more difficult for Sampdoria as Tomás Rincón was shown a red card after a tackle to stop Osimhen, after the attacker had easily passed Nuytinck. Eight minutes before the end, Napoli received a second penalty, this time after a handball from Ronaldo Vieira, which was used by Eljif Elmas. He determined the final score with a convincing, high stakes.
