Winners and Losers from Serie A Week 7
The gap at the top of the Serie A table is now just a single point after Juventus failed to win for the first time this season against lowly Sassuolo while Roma beat Chievo 3-0 at home.
Inter and Napoli played out a dramatic 2-2 draw that left neither side happy, while AC Milan and Lazio impressed away to Hellas Verona and Fiorentina respectively. The weekend also saw Serie A's first managerial casualty, as Eugenio Corini lost his job following Chievo's defeat at the Olimpico.
Let's take a look at the main winners and losers from the latest weekend of action in Serie A.
Loser: Eugenio Corini
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On paper, Eugenio Corini's dismissal from the Chievo Verona bench looks reasonable. The Flying Donkeys have picked up just four points from their opening seven games and had just slumped to a depressing 3-0 defeat away from home that could have been even worse.
The reality of the situation, however, is very different. Sacking Corini was a knee-jerk reaction from president Luca Campedelli that is likely to worsen, rather than improve, the club's fortunes.
Chievo have played Juventus, Napoli, Parma, Sampdoria, Milan and Roma so far this season. Realistically, they only had a chance against Samp—who they lost to in Genoa—and Empoli, with whom they drew. Parma are a far better side, and their other fixtures were against four of the league's biggest teams.
Corini shouldn't have been judged on how his side handled the likes of Juventus and Roma—almost everyone will lose to the two title favourites this year. He should be applauded for engineering a 0-1 win away from home in Naples, because at the start of the campaign, those three points won't have been something the club will have expected.
Losers: Chievo Verona
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The 3-0 loss at the Stadio Olimpico matters less to Chievo than losing their manager.
The Veronesi have been punching above their weight for several years now, and instability will only hurt their chances of remaining in Serie A.
This is a club with a tiny fanbase that regularly posts the lowest attendance figures in Italy's top flight. Last season, only Cagliari averaged fewer home supporters—but only because their stadium was closed and they were forced to play in the Stadio Nereo Rocco in the city of Trieste on the Italian mainland, more than 1,000 kilometres away from Sardinia.
Chievo are called the Mussi Volanti—Flying Donkeys in the Verona dialect—because it wasn't so long ago the thought of a Serie A clash between them and Hellas Verona, the city's main team, seemed impossible. The joke was that there'd be a Verona derby in the league when donkeys flew.
For a club of its size, staying in the top flight is a remarkable achievement. President Campedelli would serve his team better by supporting managers and working towards long-term improvements, rather than sacking everyone who can't beat Juve and Roma.
It was already Corini's second stint in charge at Chievo, having returned not long after being let go last season. And though he might have continued to struggle, if the board had doubts, they should have at least allowed the manager to test himself against Chievo's real rivals in the bottom half of the table before assessing the situation during the Christmas break.
It's hard to see them finding a better manager now, so the change only serves to create even more unnecessary pressure.
Winners: Roma
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After their controversial loss at Juventus in the previous round of matches, Roma were under pressure to respond to the defeat positively.
Against Chievo, they did just that. The Giallorossi put the polemics aside and took to dismantling the visitors in the opening half hour. With 32 minutes on the clock, the home side was 3-0 up and in complete control, allowing them to cruise through the rest of the game and conserve plenty of energy ahead of their upcoming Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.
The comfortable victory allowed captain Francesco Totti to retire to the bench after an hour, while Daniele De Rossi regained match fitness in midfield. Both players will be crucial to Rudi Garcia when his side hosts the German champions, and the manager will have been delighted to see positive displays from several fringe players.
To top it all off, Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Sassuolo, which meant Roma cut the Bianconeri's lead at the top of the table to a single point.
Losers: Juventus
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Massimiliano Allegri played a large part in Sassuolo's rise to Italy's top flight, but the Neroverdi have since caused the current Juve boss plenty of problems.
They beat Allegri's Milan 4-3 last season, a result that cost him his job. And this weekend, they held Juve to the unlikeliest of 1-1 draws at the Mapei Stadium.
The result cuts the Bianconeri's lead over rivals Roma to a point and will cause plenty of concern in Turin. The league leaders had 65 per cent of possession and three times as many shots from open play as their hosts, and yet couldn't find a way to beat Serie A's bottom side.
Winners: Sassuolo
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Sassuolo is the smallest town to ever be represented in Serie A. Its entire population would struggle to fill Juventus' stadium in Turin. They have yet to win a game this season and were put to the sword by Inter in a 7-0 demolition in September.
When they welcomed the 2013-14 champions to Reggio Emilia, the Neroverdi were bottom of the table with just three points.
Eusebio Di Francesco has a good squad at his disposal, especially up front. Given time, they should have enough quality to survive another year at the highest level. The extra point they added to their tally with their 1-1 draw with Juve might not be worth much numerically, but in terms of confidence, it will mean the world. Now it's time to push on.
Winners: AC Milan
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Pippo Inzaghi endured something of a roller-coaster start to his tenure on the bench at AC Milan, but the Rossoneri appear to have settled and look better every game.
Hellas Verona aren't an easy side to beat, especially at home, but inspired by Keisuke Honda, the visitors ended up comfortable 3-1 winners.
Back-to-back wins against the two Verona sides lift them up to fourth in the table above the more fancied sides like Napoli, Inter and Fiorentina. Whisper it quietly, but things may finally be looking up for Milanisti.
Winners: Lazio
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Stefano Pioli hasn't had the perfect start to life with Lazio, but the Aquile's 2-0 win away to Fiorentina showed what they're capable of and should provide another confidence boost on the blue side of the Italian capital.
Vincenzo Montella's side had more shots and more possession at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but it was the Romans who capitalised, played to their strengths and ultimately deserved to leave with the points.
The club's president, Claudio Lotito, is notoriously unpopular with fans because of his refusal to spend big on transfers, but Pioli has shown that he can work well enough with what he's been given.
Senad Lulic and Antonio Candreva stole the show in Florence, but since taking over at the Olimpico, the fomer Bologna boss has also inspired the likes of Marco Parolo, Luis Pedro Cavanda and Stefan de Vrij to perform well consistently.
Pioli also deserves plenty of credit for Filip Djordjevic's form; the Serbian now has five goals in his last three games.
Losers: Inter and Napoli
8 of 10If anyone has yet to see Inter's game at the weekend with Napoli, you can safely fast forward past the first underwhelming 78 minutes to the point when things went from bad to worse.
Both sides performed well below their capabilities in this fixture, failing to commit men forward for most of the game. When Walter Mazzarri and Rafa Benitez both changed approaches and went for the win, woeful defending from both sides resulted in four goals in the final minutes.
For Inter, the draw is the latest disappointment this season. Their 7-0 mauling of Sassuolo aside, the Nerazzurri have struggled since August and looked far from convincing at the weekend, despite playing at home against a side with plenty of its own problems.
Had it not been for Hernanes' last-gasp equaliser, the situation would have been a lot worse for Mazzarri. Even now, however, his future at the San Siro hangs in the balance. He needs to turn things around quickly.
The same can be said for Benitez and Napoli. The San Paolo outfit were expected to challenge Juve and Roma for the title this term, but they are now well adrift in seventh, having lost to Chievo and Udinese and drawn with newly promoted Palermo.
For all the talent at his disposal, the Spanish coach should be doing a lot better and pressure is building in Naples. The Partenopei have been within touching distance of real success for several seasons now, and unless the former Liverpool boss can return them to winning ways quickly, it won't be long before Aurelio De Laurentiis is showing him the door.
Winner: Mattia Destro
9 of 10Mattia Destro opened the scoring against Chievo with a fabulous diving header after just three minutes. He now has three goals in four starts for Roma this term, continuing his fine form from the end of last season.
Per minutes played, he's one of the most effective forwards in Europe, and his continued omission from the Italy team looks more confusing by the day.
Destro is highly regarded in his home country, but many feel there is still more to come from the 23-year-old, despite the fact that he's already proven himself to be a regular scorer in the top flight.
He must be wondering how much more he has to do—his record for Roma amounts to a goal every other game—to get the respect he deserves. More displays like this one will help.
Winner: Adem Ljajic
10 of 10First-team minutes have been limited for Adem Ljajic at Roma, but the 23-year-old Serbian was given a chance to impress against Chievo and took full advantage of the opportunity.
The former Fiorentina star linked up brilliantly with Francesco Totti and Mattia Destro, and he was rewarded with a goal—an expertly executed driven shot at a difficult angle—after 24 minutes.
The Giallorossi have no shortage of fine attacking options, but Ljajic now has two goals from his last three games, and if he continues to play as well as this, his time as a regular starter will come.
