Tight at the top of table following game week seven in Serie A

  ROME – Game week seven in Serie A saw things grow tight at the top of the table after AS Roma and Napoli both lost important matches, allowing the two Milanese teams to claim the top two spots.

  League leaders AC Milan won 2-1 against relegation-zone Fiorentina to move to the top of the table, one point clear of Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma who all sit on 15 points. The first half was relatively tame, with neither team managing to break the deadlock. In the 55^th minute, Fiorentina opened the scoring after Robin Gosens was able to convert a Mike Maignan save into a goal. However, the Rossoneri were hungry for an equaliser, which they found in the 63^rd minute thanks to a strike from just outside the box by Rafael Leão. Both teams tried to break the 1-1 deadlock, however both Milan goalkeeper, Maignan, and the Fiorentina goalkeeper, David De Gea, made crucial saves. Following a VAR review, AC Milan were awarded a penalty in the 85^th minute, which Leão converted to score a brace and secure AC Milan’s comeback and claim first place in the table.

  AS Roma lost 0-1 against Inter Milan, following a goal in the sixth minute by Ange-Yoan Bonny on the end of long pass from Nicolò Barella. Despite multiple attempts from set pieces and open play, the Giallorossi failed to find the equaliser, often hitting the netting or finding the reliable hands of Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer. The loss meant that both Inter and Roma sit on 15 points, however, Inter has a better goal difference, ten compared to Roma’s four, moving the Milanese team into second place.

  Title holders Napoli, who sat at the top of the table before going into this game week lost 1-0 against mid-table Torino, with neither Scott McTominay nor Rasmus Hojlund featuring in the match after minor injuries during international duty. Torino started off strong with an attempt at goal that deflected off the post, however a weakened Napoli side kept pushing. Neither team broke the deadlock until Giovanni Simone profited off Billy Gilmour’s error and dribbled past the Napoli defence to find the back of the net against his former team in the 32^nd minute. Simeone refused to celebrate. Torino were unlucky to not score more at the start of the second half; however, Napoli began fighting back, only just missing a shot on goal in the 60^th minute. Napoli thought they found the equaliser in stoppage time, with fans going wild, however it was ruled offside by VAR, with the game ending 1-0. This marked Napoli’s second loss and Torino’s second win of the season.

  However, it was not all joy for teams from Turin. Como beat Juventus 2-0, handing them their first defeat of the season. Como opened the scoring in the fourth minute, with rising star Nicola Paz crossing the ball to defender Marc-Olivier Kempf who volleyed it into the net at close range. Como consistently seemed to be the stronger team, however Juventus thought they found the equaliser in the 36^th minute, but Jonathan David’s goal was ruled offside. Como doubled their lead in the 78^th minute following a strong solo goal from Paz, who has scored four goals and assisted four goals already this season. This victory saw Como move above Juventus in the table, with both teams on 12 points but Como with a better goal difference.

  Bologna also beat Cagliari 0-2 to move into fifth place thanks to goals from Emil Holm and Riccardo Orsolini, earning Bologna’s first away win of the season.

  Elsewhere, game week seven was full of 0-0 draws, with Genoa-Parma, Atalanta-Lazio, Pisa-Verona and Lecce-Sassuolo all ending in a goalless deadlock.

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