Tag: Serie A

Donyell Malen hit a hat-trick as Roma revived their fading European hopes by cruising past Serie A’s bottom club, Pisa, 3-0 on Friday.

Roma, thrashed by runaway leaders Inter Milan in the last round, regained ground in the race for a top-four place.

“We had a great reaction, and it wasn’t easy because the second half in Milan was very disappointing,” said Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

His team moved level with Juventus, who are in fifth place, and one point behind Como in fourth. Como host Inter on Sunday. Juventus visit seventh-place Atalanta on Saturday.

“We’re still there, and now we should be rooting for Atalanta and Inter. We’re giving it our all to reach the Champions League,” said Gasperini.

Pisa remained anchored to the foot of the table.

Malen scored with all three of host Roma’s shots on goal as he took his total to 10 in 12 Serie A appearances since joining on loan from Aston Villa in January.

In the third minute, two visiting players had a chance to intercept a Roma punt forward, but Antonio Caracciolo could only knee the ball into Malen’s pass.

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The Dutch attacker sidestepped one more defender before firing home.

“Serie A matches are never easy; they become so if you break the deadlock after three minutes,” said Gasperini.

Lorenzo Pellegrini hit the angle of post and bar with a free kick before helping set up Malen’s second in the 43rd minute.

After Pisa repeatedly failed to clear, Devyne Rensch, who has yet to score in Serie A, picked up a loose ball in the box, played a one-two with Pellegrini and then poked a pass to Malen, who rolled in from close range.

Malen completed his hat-trick after 51 minutes, running onto a through pass from Matias Soule, turning away from two defenders and driving the ball home.

“He’s incredibly valuable,” said Gasperini of Malen.

“But if you play for Borussia Dortmund and in the Premier League as a young player, you’re bound to have significant resources.

“The central striker role was the key to convincing him to come to Roma.”

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Inter Milan roared back from two goals down to hammer promoted Pisa 6-2 on Friday and move six points clear at the top of Serie A.

Fans at a soaking San Siro were left in shock by Stefano Moreo’s early brace, including a brilliant chip over Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer from near the halfway line.

But Piotr Zielinski’s penalty in the 39th minute sparked a comeback at the end of the first half, with strike pairing Lautaro Martinez and Pio Esposito both thumping home powerful headers to put Inter ahead at the break.

Federico Dimarco, Ange-Yoan Bonny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan rounded off the scoring in the final 10 minutes to secure Inter’s ninth win in a 10-match unbeaten run in the league.

“When I came on, the idea was to score one before half-time, and after that it would have been a long second half (for Pisa),” said Dimarco, who was introduced shortly before Zielinski scored.

“But we scored three, we reacted well. Sometimes, when you play a lot of games, you can approach a game the wrong way, but it was important to turn it around.”

Inter’s thumping victory piled pressure on title rivals AC Milan and Napoli, who both have tough away fixtures this weekend.

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Inter’s closest challengers, Milan, travel south on Sunday to take on fourth-placed Roma, who are yet to win a high-profile fixture but continue to improve under Gian Piero Gasperini.

Meanwhile, Napoli are nine points back in third, with the champions in Turin on Sunday after a draw at 10-man FC Copenhagen left them at risk of being eliminated from the Champions League.

Pisa are bottom of the division, having collected just four points from their last 10 matches.

This heavy defeat came after a dream start in the Tuscan side’s first match against Inter at the San Siro since October 1990.

The 5,000 away fans roared their delight when Moreo pounced on a poor Sommer pass to fire back over his head into an empty net in the 11th minute before the Italian forward doubled the away side’s lead with his head midway through the first half.

But Alberto Gilardino’s team crumbled once Zielinski struck, and Pisa ended up conceding the same number of goals to Inter that they did over a quarter of a century ago.

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Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter Milan drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with Lazio.

Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar.

The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres was fouled, only for the decision to be reversed for a foul committed by Giovanni Simeone earlier in the move.

A feisty match at the Stadio Ennio Tardini ended with Conte and his Parma counterpart Cristian Chivu both being sent off following a blazing row between the two dugouts in the final moments.

However, a home win on the final day against Cagliari, who are safe thanks to a 3-0 win over second-from-bottom Venezia, will give Napoli a fourth league crown.

“We’re close but we have more step to take in front of our own fans. We’ve been top for a large part of the season even with a lot of difficulties,” said Conte to DAZN.

“It’s down to these boys who put their heart and soul into it. I really hope we can win this title because it would truly be a great achievement.”

Inter’s final fixture is at Como, who are finishing their first Serie A season in over two decades in great form, although Cesc Fabregas’ team’s winning streak ended at six matches with a 1-1 draw at safe Verona.

Napoli were saved from being overtaken by Inter thanks to a Pedro brace for Lazio, including a 90th-minute penalty.

Denzel Dumfries thought he had headed home a potentially key goal with 10 minutes remaining at the San Siro, before a Yann Bisseck handball allowed Champions League chasers Lazio to snatch a point.

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Inter once again showed their wasteful side by giving away a lead twice, with Bisseck opening the scoring on the stroke of half-time before Pedro netted in the 73rd minute, while Marko Arnautovic missed a golden chance to move the hosts top in the dying moments.

Coach Simone Inzaghi will also miss the final match of the season after being sent off for his livid reaction at the VAR check, which led to Pedro levelling from the penalty spot.

No one from the Inter spoke to the media after the match, in apparent protest over the decision to give Lazio their penalty.

Lazio drawing kept the Roman club in the hunt for the final Champions League spot, although Marco Baroni’s team are two points behind four-placed Juve, who beat mid-table Udinese 2-0.

Sandwiched between Juve and Lazio are Roma, who beat 10-man AC Milan 3-1 on a night when fans honoured Claudio Ranieri in his last home match as coach for his boyhood club.

Milan, who had to play most of the match a man down after Santiago Gimenez was sent off in the 21st minute, sits ninth and will not play European football next season.

Bologna’s bid for Champions League football is over after a 3-2 defeat at Fiorentina, which left the Italian Cup winners five points behind Juve.

However, Vincenzo Italiano’s team will play in the Europa League next season thanks to their historic cup victory on Wednesday over Milan, their first major trophy since 1974.

A point was not enough to guarantee Parma’s safety as Chivu’s team are two points above Empoli, who are just inside the drop zone after beating relegated Monza 3-1.

Empoli are level on 31 points with Lecce, who moved one place above the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Torino.

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Inter Milan stayed perfect in Serie A as they won 2-0 at Cagliari in the last match of the second round on Monday.

Inter Milan dominated the first 30 minutes and scored the goals they needed for the win.

Right wing-back Denzel Dumfries ran onto a cunning through ball by Marcus Thuram after 21 minutes and placed a low cross-shot past goalie Boris Radunovic.

After 30 minutes, Lautaro Martinez, who had earlier hit a post, leapt to control a pass from Federico Dimarco with his toe, sidestepped two defenders and left Radunovic flat-footed with a low shot inside near the post.

With three goals in two matches, the Argentina striker joined Olivier Giroud of AC Milan and Victor Osimhen of Napoli at the top of the scorers’ charts.

In the second half, Inter Milan successfully slowed the game down until the final minutes when Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari took more risks.

Yann Sommer made a spectacular save from Cagliari substitute Paulo Azzi and Hakan Calhanoglu hit the Cagliari post on a counter-attack.

It was a second straight 2-0 victory for Inter and leaves them third in the standings. AC Milan lead on goal difference. Champions Napoli are second, ahead of Inter on goals scored. Verona lie fourth also on six points.

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MILAN: Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed a one-year contract extension with Serie A club AC Milan that commits him to stay at the franchise till June 2023.

Ibrahimovic, who led his team AC Milan to the Serie A title victory after 11 years will be staying with the club till after his 41st birthday.

“AC Milan is pleased to announce the renewal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract until June 30, 2023. The Swedish forward will continue to wear the number 11 shirt,” the team said in a statement.

The Swede, however, is out of action till at least the early next year following the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee reconstructed in May.

The former Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Manchester United forward revealed in May that he endured six months of sleepless nights due to the pain in his knee but remained committed to AC Milan delivering their first Serie A crown in 11 years.

 

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It is pertinent to mention here that Ibrahimovic was also a part of AC Milan when the club last won the Scudetto, joining on loan from Barcelona and scoring 14 league goals in 29 appearances to fire them to the 2011 title.

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