The Partenopei lead Juve by a point in Italy, where 10 of the last 11 Serie A winners were ‘winter champions’, but memories of that exception remainIt was fitting that Marek Hamsik should grab the winner on Friday night: a record-breaking player adding a final exclamation mark to his team’s record-breaking year. He had overtaken Diego Maradona as Napoli’s all-time leading scorer in Serie A with a strike against Sampdoria just before Christmas. Now he had sunk Crotone with a cool left-foot finish at the Stadio Ezio Scida.This was one of those nights when Napoli should have had a hatful, raining in 23 shots on Alex Cordaz’s goal. As it was, one would suffice to secure their 18th away win...
Still unbeaten in Serie A after the Derby d’Italia, leaders Internazionale are rightly starting to cause a little anxiety in TurinThe stage was set for a spectacle. A full house at the Allianz Stadium and the atmosphere crackling as Juventus fans put on their usual pre-game choreography: a sea of black and white placards broken only by a green, white and red tricolore to remind everyone this is where the reigning champions reside.Well, no, actually, that wouldn’t quite do it. Ultras also prepared their own banner, in which 1970s cartoon detective Nick Carter was seen, together with sidekicks Patsy and Ten, examining a map of Europe. Italy had been blocked out in black and white stripes. Above the picture was...
It was ‘Everyone Against Everyone’, as Gazzetta had billed it, but after a Juve shock and Mauro Icardi’s decisive hat-trick, Napoli remained out in frontSooner or later, the wheels had to come off. Napoli set an impossible pace through the first seven games of this Serie A season: taking maximum points while scoring at least three against every opponent.That came to an end on Saturday, as they ran into a Roma side who had conceded only four in total: second-fewest in the division. A team who finished runners-up to Juventus last season, and whose manager, Eusebio Di Francesco, riffed during his pre-game press conference on the old American sporting maxim that defence wins championships. Related: Last-minute penalty by Internazionale’s Mauro...
The crowd sang Totti’s name in a veiled jab at the man who phased out their hero but Mauro Icardi’s sharp-shooting fired Spalletti’s side to a scarcely-deserved winAt the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, the 46th president of the United States paused to grab a selfie with the eighth King of Rome. Frank Underwood and Francesco Totti: two characters stripped of the jobs that defined them. Netflix are yet to confirm whether House of Cards will be renewed for a sixth season, but for Roma the show must go on, even with their greatest star now relegated to a supporting role.The crowd sang Totti’s name before kick-off against Inter, louder than that of any player who would take to the pitch....
A penalty awarded against Juventus at home in the opening game was just what the VAR was supposed to pick up – but a referee whistling too soon at Bologna proved costly for TorinoIt used to be that a new Serie A season would provide us with a fresh round of discorsi da bar – football talking points to get worked up about over a beer or Monday morning espresso. This year, things went in a different direction. When the final whistles had blown and Giorgia Cardinaletti welcomed us back to Rai 2’s long-running highlights show, Domenica Sportiva, she and her studio guests instead dived straight into discorsi da VAR.Yes, this was the weekend when Italian football fans received their...