Forward turned the derby on its head with a quickfire double that breathed life into the title race – and the dreaded No 9 shirtEven Olivier Giroud was starting to wonder if he might have jinxed himself. The Frenchman had no hesitation in accepting Milan’s No 9 shirt after he joined last summer, shrugging off the fact that no player in a decade had hit double figures while wearing it in Serie A. Ten players had tried and failed – among them such talented goalscorers as Gonzalo Higuaín, Fernando Torres and André Silva – but Giroud insisted: “I’m not superstitious.”By the turn of the year, he was sounding a little less confident. “I don’t believe in the curse of the...
Four teams went through the charade of turning up for doomed games as Serie A resumed under another Covid cloudA new year, but hardly the fresh start Italian football was hoping for. Serie A was supposed to return from its winter break with a full round of games on Thursday, but four out of 10 never took place. As Covid cases continue to rise across the country, local health authorities (known in Italy by the acronym ASL) intervened to block teams from attending fixtures.Bologna, Torino, Salernitana and Udinese were each ordered to quarantine following outbreaks in their respective squads. Their opponents – Internazionale, Atalanta, Venezia and Fiorentina – still each showed up to the relevant stadium and performed the surreal...
A Covid-related no-show at Udinese looks the last act for Salernitana unless they can find a new owner by 31 DecemberThere were at least 16 Salernitana fans at the Dacia Arena on Tuesday. It is no small commitment to make a 1,000-mile roundtrip to support a team that sits bottom of the standings on a weeknight in December. The group came knowing they would not have a team to support at all.Salernitana had been barred from travelling after two players tested positive for Covid, together with a third member of staff. The decision was made by the local health authority in Salerno, not the Italian Football Federation, meaning that their fixture away to Udinese was not officially cancelled. Continue reading...
João Cancelo continues to shine, Dele Alli shows his worth and Blackburn are looking upJürgen Klopp spent much of the pulsating 2-2 draw with Tottenham frothing with rage at some of the refereeing decisions and his anger was more than justified. We all have bad days at the office, but certain elements of Paul Tierney’s display were inexplicably poor. Diogo Jota was denied a blindingly obvious penalty in the first half, before Harry Kane escaped with a yellow card for a potentially career-ending tackle on Andy Robertson. Robertson was smart enough to jump, without which the damage would have been severe. “That’s definitely a red card ... if Robbo’s leg is on the ground, it’s a broken leg,” Klopp correctly...
Dusan Vlahovic continued his prolific form at the weekend though his contract situation has the Viola Ultras unhappyDusan Vlahovic finished off a weekend’s work by playing Father Christmas. He had already delivered two goals for Fiorentina on Saturday, helping them to a 4-0 win over Salernitana at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but while his teammates went to celebrate under the Curva Fiesole he took himself to the stand behind the opposition bench. A young fan had prepared a sign asking for the striker’s shirt. It was enough to get on Santa’s “nice” list.Privately, Vlahovic might have been happy for the excuse. His relationship with the Ultras who occupy the Fiesole has not recovered since the club’s owner, Rocco Commisso, went...