Matchday 26 of the 2019/20 Serie A campaign was finally completed on Monday night. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many games in the Italian top flight have either been postponed or played behind closed doors in recent weeks.
In fact, the Italian government has now officially suspended all sporting event across the country, so there will be no further Serie A action until April.
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at what has happened over the past couple of weeks.
Lazio 2-0 Bologna
Napoli 2-1 Torino
Leece 2-7 Atalanta
Cagliari 3-4 Roma
Parma 0-1 SPAL
Sampdoria 2-1 Hellas Verona
AC Milan 1-2 Genoa
Udinese 0-0 Fiorentina
Juventus 2-0 Inter Milan
Sassuolo 3-0 Brescia
Lazio claimed a fourth straight victory to keep the pressure on Juventus at the top of the Serie A table. First-half goals from Luis Alberto and Joaquin Correa sealed the win for the club from the capital, while no win in three has left Bologna languishing in mid-table.
Napoli’s fifth win in six games cemented their place in the top six and extended their resurgence under Gennaro Gattuso. Kostas Manolas and Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored the goals for the home side, before Simone Edera grabbed a late consolation for Torino.
A Duvan Zapata hat-trick helped Atalanta to an emphatic 7-2 victory over struggling Lecce. A Giulio Donati own goal gifted the Bergamo outfit the lead, while Josip Ilicic, Luis Muriel, and Ruslan Malinovskiy also got on the scoresheet. Atalanta have now scored seven goals on three separate occasions this season.
Roma edged Cagliari in a seven-goal thriller at the Sardegna Arena. Joao Pedro opened the scoring, but a first-half brace from Nikola Kalinic saw Roma lead at the break. Justin Kluivert made it 3-1 just after the hour mark before Gaston Pedro pulled a goal back for the hosts. Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored Roma’s fourth, but Joao Pedro grabbed his second of the game to set up a nervy finish.
SPAL moved off the bottom of the table by claiming their first win in six games over Parma. Andrea Petagna’s second-half penalty proved to be the difference between the sides, and Parma’s European dreams appear to be fading.
Fabio Quagliarella scored a late brace to hand Sampdoria a vital three points against Verona. Emil Audero’s own goal saw Verona lead at half time, but Quagliarella coolly slotted home on 77 minutes before converting a penalty with less than 5 minutes remaining. Sampdoria are now one point clear of the bottom three.
Despite notching up 23 shots and dominating the possession, Milan were beaten 2-1 by Genoa at San Siro. Goals from Goran Pandev and Francesco Cassata gave Genoa a two-goal lead before half time, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored late in the second half. Federico Marchetti was sent off for the visitors in added time.
Udinese recorded their fourth draw in a row as they played out a dull goalless encounter against Fiorentina. Udinese remain 14th – three points clear of the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Fiorentina are two points and one place ahead of Luca Gotti’s side.
Aaron Ramsey and Paulo Dybala were both on target as Juventus beat Inter behind closed doors. Juventus are one point ahead of second-place Lazio, but Inter are now nine points behind the league leaders. Still, Antonio Conte’s men have a game in hand over their title rivals.
In the final tie of the round, Sassuolo claimed a comfortable victory over bottom club Brescia. Francesco Caputo netted a double, while Jeremie Boga completed the scoring. Sassuolo have won three of their last four games, but Brescia are without a win in 11.