DANIELE DE ROSSI'S FIRST WIN: GENOA RALLIES AFTER SLOW FIRST HALF
Daniele De Rossi secures his first managerial win at Genoa, a 2-1 comeback against Verona. The new boss praised his team's spirit but demanded a better first-half performance.
Daniele De Rossi celebrated his first win as Genoa's coach today, with a sweet 2-1 comeback against Verona.
This win bumps Genoa up to 15th place in Serie A for now, until the other games this weekend shake things up.
Even with the victory, De Rossi pointed out that the team needs to play better, especially in the first half. He said, “This win is important, even if it doesn’t change everything. We know our first half wasn't great, but the guys always respond well.”
Lorenzo Colombo and Morten Thorsby scored the goals that won the game, after Rafik Belghali put Verona ahead early on.
De Rossi seems happy with how dedicated his team has been. They haven't lost in the three games since he took over.
In his press conference (via TuttoSport), he mentioned, “The attitude in training and during matches is great, but we need to step it up in the first half.”
He also talked about how the team needs to turn ball possession into real scoring chances, something they’ve struggled with this season.
“We had the ball a lot, but we need to figure out how to do things with it. We were too slow and didn't look for open spaces. We’re enjoying this win and the good feeling. We played much better in the second half, even if we got pushed back in the final minutes.
De Rossi also had some advice for two of his key forwards, encouraging them to work together better to create more opportunities for the team.
“Vitinha and Colombo? They need to find each other more. They were a bit static in the first half, even though they helped us get out of a tough spot. These guys need to get assists and score goals to win over the fans.
“I care a lot about my job, the staff, the team, and the fans. A coach’s job is to get the team ready. If the first half wasn’t good, that’s on me. I also have to figure out what was going wrong. It wasn’t really about tactics but more about how we moved the ball. You have to give a little extra.”
Looking ahead to their match against Atalanta in Coppa Italia on Wednesday, De Rossi was asked if he'll make changes to the team.
He replied, “We were just focused on getting ready for today’s match. I’m thinking about it a lot. I’d like to switch out ten players to give everyone a chance, but changing that many players can hurt their ability to play well.
“There will be chances for guys who haven’t played much, but I don’t want to just throw them in there for the sake of it. Coppa Italia is important, and I respect it.”
DAVID NERES COUNTER-ATTACK GOAL HANDS NAPOLI CRUCIAL 1-0 VICTORY AT ROMA
Napoli secured a massive 1-0 away victory against Roma thanks to a brilliant counter-attack goal from David Neres. The win ties them with AC Milan at the top of Serie A.
David Neres scored on a quick break, giving Napoli a huge road win against Roma and putting them in a tie with AC Milan for the league lead.
With only two points separating them, this game was important. Paulo Dybala, who had been out, played in Thursday's Europa League game against Midtjylland. Artem Dovbyk and Angelino are still injured. But Dybala started on the bench this time. Napoli had defeated Qarabag 2-0 in their midweek Champions League match. Even after losing Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Billy Gilmour, Kevin De Bruyne, Miguel Gutierrez, Alex Meret, and Romelu Lukaku, they’re settling into their 3-4-3 setup.
Mile Svilar made a brave play, rushing off his line to block Noa Lang's run onto a long ball. He then got back in time to save Rasmus Hojlund's rebound attempt.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo volleyed a cross from David Neres into the side-netting, and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was in position to stop a shot from Gianluca Mancini.
Svilar stretched to push away a tricky shot from Lang with one hand after it was deflected by Mancini. Amir Rrahmani barely stopped Evan Ferguson from tapping in a pass from Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Napoli then scored. Rrahmani's sliding tackle on Manu Koné started a fast counterattack. David Neres passed to Hojlund and then chipped the ball over Svilar. Roma argued, but VAR confirmed Rrahmani got the ball first. Neres scored his third goal in two Serie A games.
Tommaso Baldanzi came on for Ferguson after halftime, and Roma switched back to their False 9 formation. However, Dybala wasn't ready to play a full 45 minutes.
Svilar denied Hojlund near the post after a pass from Noa Lang. Roma began to control the ball but struggled to create good scoring chances.
Matteo Politano tested Svilar with a curling shot from distance, and Lorenzo Pellegrini's powerful shot for Roma went just over the bar.
Roma's best chance came in the final minute. Dybala flicked the ball to Baldanzi, whose hard shot was saved by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
LAUTARO MARTINEZ DOUBLE SNAPS INTER'S SLUMP, ENDS PISA'S CLEAN SHEET RUN
Inter Milan got a vital 2-0 victory against Pisa thanks to Lautaro Martinez's second-half double. The win snapped a two-game losing run and broke Pisa's four-match home clean sheet record.
Lautaro Martinez scored twice, getting Inter back on track with a much-needed win against Pisa, who had kept four straight clean sheets at home.
Inter was shaky after losing to AC Milan and Atletico Madrid. Henrikh Mkhitaryan was back on the bench. Luis Henrique got a rare start because Ange-Yoan Bonny had the flu, joining Denzel Dumfries, Tomas Palacios, and Raffaele Di Gennaro on the list of players who couldn't play. Pisa had only won once all season but hadn't lost in six games, drawing with Milan, Lazio, Torino, and Sassuolo. Daniel Denoon, Isak Vural, Mateus Lusuardi, Tomas Esteves, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, and Calvin Stengs were out, and Adrian Semper had a stomach bug, but Marius Marin was ready to play.
Simone Scuffet stopped Federico Dimarco's free kick, and Francesco Acerbi was offside when he headed wide after a set play. M’Bala Nzola couldn't take advantage of a good chance because he didn't control the ball well.
Lautaro Martinez's header went just wide after a free kick from Hakan Calhanoglu. Pisa then had a big chance around the half-hour mark. Idrissa Touré headed a long ball down to Gabriele Piccinini, and Piccinini's volley went just past the post.
Soon after, Marcus Thuram's shot also went just wide, and Lautaro Martinez's volley bounced over the bar after a cross from Nicolò Barella.
Early in the second half, Touré sent a dangerous cross into the box, but Acerbi and Yann Sommer stopped Pisa from scoring.
Barella's shot was deflected over the bar by Raul Albiol, and Piccinini shot right at Sommer. Nzola then missed a great chance on a counterattack, shooting wide when he was one-on-one with Sommer.
Acerbi blocked Meister's shot in the box, and then Inter scored with a great goal.
Francesco Pio Esposito won the ball back on the left and crossed to Lautaro Martinez, who scored with a first-time shot into the top corner from 12 yards out. It was the first goal Pisa had let in at home since September 14, ending their run of four clean sheets.
Pisa almost scored when Nzola's header was deflected wide, but Inter increased their lead. After a corner wasn't cleared well, Andy Diouf passed to Barella on the right. Barella's shot became an assist for Lautaro Martinez, who scored at the far post.
Lautaro Martinez almost scored a third goal soon after, but he missed a shot after a cross from Diouf.