There was a chunk of thrilling games in the Serie A over the weekend but the pick of the bunch was the Derby d’Italia between Inter Milan and Juventus.
Napoli once again showed why they will be the favourites for this season’s Scudetto with the game between AC Milan and Bologna failing to take place. Here we look at the major talking points in round Nine of the Italian top-flight league.
The Bologna versus AC Milan game postponed
The game between Bologna and AC Milan which was slated to take place on Saturday was postponed because of heavy rain and flooding in the region.
The two clubs and Serie A organisers met on Friday in an attempt to find alternative arrangements after Bologna mayor Matteo Lepore announced he had ordered the suspension of the match but both parties failed to reach an agreement.
A rescheduled date for the fixture at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara has yet to be announced but both teams return to action on Tuesday where Milan will be up against league leaders Napoli while Bologna will be taking on Cagliari.
Napoli wins again to maintain top spot
Napoli continued with their title quest on Saturday when they needed a late goal from captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo to secure a 1-0 victory over struggling Lecce.
Di Lorenzo, who had an earlier goal waved off by the VAR, bundled in from close range following a rebound of a header by Scott McTominay with the win putting Antonio Conte’s men five points four points clear at the top of the table.
It was Napoli’s fourth straight win. The 2023 champion hasn’t lost since dropping its season opener in August at Hellas Verona and will be hoping to maintain that streak when they visit AC Milan on Tuesday.
Retegui clocks double figures as Atalanta routs Verona
Mateo Retegui hit double figures in the Golden Boot race as his double helped Atalanta to a 6-1 win over Verona.
Other goals by the hosts were scored by Ademola Lookman (brace), captain Marten de Roon and Charles De Ketelaere also were on target. Amin Sarr scored the consolation for Verona just before the halftime break.
Juventus hold Inter Milan in an Eight Goal thriller
Inter Milan and Juventus battled to a 4-4 draw in the Derby d’Italia staged on Sunday.
Fans were treated to one of the most entertaining games in Serie A history with the results changing six times in the duel. Inter took a brief lead, then fell behind thanks to two goals in six minutes from Juventus. But that turned out to be a pedestrian pace as the hosts responded through Piotr Zielinski’s second penalty and then a stunner from Henrikh Mkhitaryan just moments apart before Denzel Dumfries finally prised a two-goal cushion.
However, the introduction of Kenan Yildiz with half an hour to go changed the game. Forming a lethal pincer attack with Francisco Conceicao on the opposite flank, the teenage Turk struck to give his side hope, then missed from point-blank range before recovering quickly to provide a well-deserved equaliser with less than ten minutes left.
Napoli were the beneficiaries of the eight-goal classic as they open up four- and five-point gaps to Inter and Juventus at the top of Serie A.
