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Serie A Matchday 26 round-up – Underdogs leave the title race wide open

By James Cormack

STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA, MILAN, ITALY - 2022/02/20: Gianluca Scamacca (C) of US Sassuolo celebrates with Giacomo Raspadori and Domenico Berardi of US Sassuolo after scoring a goal from a header as players of FC Internazionale look dejected during the Serie A football match between FC Internazionale and US Sassuolo. US Sassuolo won 2-0 over FC Internazionale. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA, MILAN, ITALY - 2022/02/20: Gianluca Scamacca (C) of US Sassuolo celebrates with Giacomo Raspadori and Domenico Berardi of US Sassuolo after scoring a goal from a header as players of FC Internazionale look dejected during the Serie A football match between FC Internazionale and US Sassuolo. US Sassuolo won 2-0 over FC Internazionale. (Photo by Nicolò Campo/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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Matchday 26 in Serie A kicked off with the Derby della Mole between Juventus and Torino on Friday night. It’s a rivalry dominated by the Bianconeri, but Ivan Juric’s side more than held their own at the Allianz Stadium on this occasion.

The visitors were more than deserving of their point, as Andrea Belotti cancelled out Matthijs de Ligt’s headed opener to earn Il Toro a 1-1 draw. Juventini lamented a shoddy display and more dropped points, but little did they know that Matchday 26 would be the weekend of the underdog.

Serie A Matchday 26 round-up

In the end, none of the top six come out victorious which left both the Scudetto and top-four races wide open.

Here’s a round-up of all the action.

No one wants to win the Scudetto

Victor Osimhen rescued a point for Napoli against Cagliari on Monday evening. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)
Victor Osimhen rescued a point for Napoli against Cagliari on Monday evening. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images) /

Stefano Pioli’s Milan had the chance to pile the pressure on Inter when they visited bottom of the table Salernitana on Saturday night. Initially, things began as projected with Junior Messias opening the scoring five minutes in.

However, a rare error from Mike Maignan, who endured his worst performance in a Milan shirt, handed the hosts an equaliser before Milan Duric headed Salernitana into a stunning lead with 20 minutes remaining. Ante Rebic would swiftly restore parity, but the Rossoneri were unable to find the all-important winner as the contest finished two apiece.

Fortunately, though, the paradoxical Sassuolo let them off the hook. On Sunday evening, Alessio Dionisi’s gifted Neroverdi were a force to be reckoned with in transition and they beat the champions Inter Milan 2-0 thanks to goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca, who could be on his way to the Nerazzurri this summer.

Sassuolo’s victory means they’ve now beaten Milan, Inter and Juventus away from home in Serie A this season. Predictably unpredictable.

Nevertheless, the slip-ups of both Milan clubs gifted Napoli a MASSIVE opportunity to climb to the top of the table when they visited Cagliari on Monday. But, like Milan, they were hamstrung by their goalkeeper. Davide Ospina’s calamitous error from Gaston Pereiro’s tame strike gave Cagliari the lead and it was up to Victor Osimhen at the death to rescue a point for Luciano Spalletti’s side.

The weekend’s results mean Milan remain at the summit with 56 points while Inter and Napoli are level on 54 points. The Nerazzurri do have a game in hand – away at Bologna – however.

Fiorentina the major winners in top-four race

Fiorentina edged past Atalanta on Sunday. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)
Fiorentina edged past Atalanta on Sunday. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images) /

Fiorentina’s slender victory over Atalanta on Sunday meant they closed the gap on the top-four while doing Juventus a huge favour. Krzysztof Piątek’s goal was enough to seal all three points for La Viola, who are now just five points adrift of the Bianconeri in fourth with a game in hand, also.

Elsewhere, Lazio failed to gain ground on Juve as they could only muster a draw away at Udinese. The Biancocolesti are still plagued by woeful defensive sequences.

Their crosstown rivals AS Roma, meanwhile, fought from two goals down to earn a point at home to Igor Tudor’s plucky Hellas Verona. Jose Mourinho was on form as two young guns, Cristian Volpato and Edoardo Bove, nullified Antonin Barak and Adrien Tameze’s earlier strikes in the second half.

Despite their fightback, Mourinho’s men are still six points off fourth spot.

Spezia returning to the norm

Spezia’s new year resurgence appears to be shuddering to a halt as they fell to back-to-back defeats on Monday night.

A Marko Arnautovic double helped Bologna overcome a 1-0 deficit to beat Thiago Motta’s side 2-1. Spezia had earlier been usurped by Sampdoria in the table after Fabio Quagliarella led the way in a 2-0 victory over Empoli, who are slowly sliding down the Serie A table having not won since December.

Relegation duel

Finally, Genoa recorded their fourth draw on the spin and 13th of the season when they visited the similarly relegation-threatened Venezia on Sunday.

Thomas Henry’s 13th-minute opener was cancelled out by Genoa’s Caleb Ekuban as the spoils were shared in Venice.

The point does little to bolster either side’s chances of Serie A survival with Venezia remaining in 17th, level on points with Cagliari, and Genoa in 19th.

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