Serie A: Roma, Udinese and Napoli record emphatic wins

 

Week 18 of the 2020/21 Italian Serie season came with many goals as Udinese, AS Roma, and Napoli recorded emphatic victories.

Roma secured their first win over Atalanta since 2017 in style by dominating their opponent to win a 4-1 display at the Gewiss Stadium on Saturday.

The Giallorossi made a light work of their hosts in Bergamo with a brace from Tammy, a goal each from Nicolo Zaniolo and Chris Smalling gave Jose Mourinho’s men maximum points.

The win takes the Rome club to the fifth spot in the Serie A table after 18 games ahead of the Christmas break. They are now five points behind fourth-place Napoli, who later played Milan.

In another development, Udinese added to the misery of Cagliari with a dominant 4-0 victory in Sardinia.

The win comes from two fantastic Gerard Deulofeu goals, Nahuel Molina rocket and a near-post shot from Jean-Victor Makengo.

Udinese only needed four minutes to break the deadlock. Diego Godin gave the ball away, building out from the back, and he was punished for it. Destiny Udogie rolled across for Jean-Victor Makengo, who at full stretch managed prodded into the net to score his debut Serie A goal.

Udinese made it two with a fantastic Gerard Deulofeu right-foot free-kick.  The former Barcelona and Everton winger curled it up and over the wall into the near top corner.

Despite Walter Mazzarri making a triple change at half-time,  Udinese added a third goal in style. The bouncing ball on the edge of the box after a clearance was met with a ferocious shot from Argentina international Nahuel Molina into the far bottom corner.

Cagliari were later reduced to ten men after midfielder Razvan Marin received his second yellow card.

Deuloeu made it four with another beautiful finish from his right-foot curler from a very tricky angle that bent over Cragno and right into the far top corner.

Meanwhile, ten-men Fiorentina came back from 2-0 down to hold Sassuolo 2-2 in an exhilarating match.

The game lived up to expectations as both sides brought out their attacking game to the delight of the fans.

The visitors went ahead at the Artemi Franchi when Frattesi sent Scamacca sprint forward and the angled drive nestled into the far bottom corner.

Moments later, Sassuolo made it two with a move played out from the back. Raspadori nutmegged Martinez-Quarta, making his pass allow Frattesi to spring the offside trap and score left-footed from a tight angle.

Fiorentina began their fightback by reducing the deficit in the second half as Torreira’s through ball released Vlahovic to blast into the roof of the net one-on-one to score his 33rd Serie A goal of 2021.

Viola completed the comeback after a chaotic move with a series of shots charged down, including Jeremy Toljan’s block on Vlahovic which accidentally turned into an assist for Torreira at the back post.

The hosts were later reduced to ten men after Cristiano Biraghi saw red for two very similar booking incidents of the high elbow.

Despite being down to 10 men, the hosts continued to attack as well as the visitors.

In another big Serie A game over the weekend, Napoli secured themselves a 0-1 away victory over AC Milan. Eljif Elmas scored in the 5th minute to them a crucial win. Napoli are second on the Serie A table but have the same points as AC Milan, although they lead on goal difference.

 

Written by:  Oladipupo Mojeed