Serie A Winners and Losers: Napoli Close the Gap to Roma as Cesena Shock Lazio
Udinese offered some reprieve for struggling Roma this weekend, holding champions Juventus to a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Friuli and keeping the gap between first and second at seven points.
The Giallorossi were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Empoli, and have now failed to win their last four games.
Elsewhere, Lazio suffered a shock defeat to minnows Cesena, as Torino put five past Sampdoria. Taking full advantage, Napoli overcame a dogged Chievo Verona to eventually win 1-2 at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Read on to find out more about calcio's biggest winners and losers this weekend.
Losers: Roma
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Not for the first time this season, Roma have slipped up at the worst possible time. The deadlock at home to Empoli will have been disappointing enough for the Giallorossi, but Juventus' stalemate with Udinese makes the underwhelming 1-1 at the Olimpico all the more unbearable.
The same thing happened in Round 14, when Fiorentina held Juve only for Roma to stumble to a 2-2 home draw with Sassuolo. And while they took advantage of the Bianconeri's 0-0 with Inter in January, the benefit gained has since been whittled away by four successive draws.
Luckily for Rudi Garcia, his side are no worse off than they were at the start of the weekend, but they're no closer to the league leaders, either. Time is running out, and the seven-point lead that Massimiliano Allegri's men enjoy at the top of the table is getting more unassailable by the round.
To make matters worse, Juan Iturbe suffered ligament damage to his right knee and ankle, and he will likely miss the rest of the campaign. Kevin Strootman will also be out until the summer, after the Dutchman damaged cartilage in his knee.
Winners: Napoli
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Rafa Benitez's Napoli were the weekend's big winners, closing the gap to Roma in second while simultaneously stretching their lead over Lazio in fourth.
In one of the shocks of the round—possibly the season—Stefano Pioli's Aquile were beaten 2-1 by Cesena, a side that had won just twice since August before welcoming the Romans to the Stadio Dino Manuzzi.
Better still for Benitez, Sinisa Mihajlovic's Sampdoria were hammered 5-1 away to Torino, meaning that the Partenopei now enjoy a five-point lead over their two closest rivals for Serie A's final Champions League place.
The Spanish coach will also have been delighted to see Manolo Gabbiadini put in a match-winning performance in his first start for the Neapolitans since signing from Sampdoria in January.
Losers: Inter
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Inter can put all the positive spin on their current situation that they like, but there's nothing positive to be taken from this weekend's game with Sassuolo.
The Neroverdi are the smallest side ever to play in Italy's top flight—the entire town's population could fit into the San Siro twice and still leave room to spare—but Eusebio Di Francesco's men were comfortable winners over the Nerazzurri and have now leapfrogged Roberto Mancini's side in the table.
Speaking after the game to Sky Sport Italia (here in English via football-italia.net), Mancini tried to stay upbeat, saying:
"The team came out well, had two early chances and then conceded at the first Sassuolo opportunity. I think we make mistakes in some situations, but in the first 20 minutes we played the way we needed to.
Things are going wrong at the moment, but this is the right concept of football. Of course we cannot allow opponents so much space to prepare and line up their shots.
We knew Zaza would be dangerous when going down the left, but we allowed the shots when we had studied them perfectly well during the week. We were a little too bland and soft in closing them down.
Unfortunately in Italy the only thing anyone cares about is the result.
"
The last remark, in particular, should raise eyebrows. Mancini is not paid millions by Inter's owner Erick Thohir to come up with the "right concept of football," he's employed to make sure that the 2010 European champions return to the top of the game both at home and abroad. In other words, he's expected to win.
Sassuolo spend a total of €28 million per annum on player wages, just 40 percent of Inter's €70 million bill (latest figures from Italian site ilpost.it here). On Sunday, they had less possession and took fewer shots than Inter, and yet they still left the Mapei Stadium as comfortable 3-1 winners. They now have 28 points to Inter's 26.
Those figures don't add up. If Mancini isn't able to turn things around soon, it won't be long before the Inter board starts asking serious questions. And when they do, the manager will need concrete, rather than conceptual, answers if he wants to keep his job.
Winners: Cesena
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Beating Lazio is no easy task these days, but Cesena managed to do what Roma, Inter, Fiorentina and AC Milan couldn't and saw off the Aquile 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
It was just their third win all season—the other two both came against Parma—but it might just inspire the Cavallucci Marini to fight for their survival in Seria A.
February and March have some tough fixtures in store for Domenico Di Carlo's side, as they play Juventus, AC Milan, Udinese, Palermo, Inter and Roma one after the other.
Before that, however, they face Empoli, who are currently 16th in the table but just five points above Cesena in 19th. A win next week in Tuscany would put them within touching distance of Cagliari, who are 17th, but who must play Roma.
It's still a long shot, but thanks to Gregoire Defrel's massive contribution against Lazio, another season in Italy's top flight is no longer an impossible dream for Cesena.
Losers: Fiorentina
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Another disappointing result for Fiorentina against Genoa puts them seven points behind Napoli in third and all but out of the race for Champions League football next season.
Benitez's Partenopei look unlikely to loosen their grip on the third if they continue their current form. And even if they do, both Lazio and Sampdoria look more capable of taking advantage than Vincenzo Montella's Viola.
At the start of the campaign there was some hope that Mario Gomez and Giuseppe Rossi could finally fulfil their promise and fire Fiorentina into the UCL, but the German is still out of sorts and the perennially injured Italian remains on the treatment table.
To make matters worse, they've just lost Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea. The Colombian has been their best player for two seasons now and his departure leaves Montella somewhat short on top-class talent.
"Hello from "The Bridge" pic.twitter.com/h1VZfvAGXs
— Juan Cuadrado (@Cuadrado) January 31, 2015"
Fans will be hoping that Mohamed Salah, who arrived on loan from Jose Mourinho's Blues, can make an impact but the signing of Alberto Gilardino—who they let leave in 2012—feels like a panicked move in the wrong direction. It's hard not to think that the Florentines have taken several steps back this season, rather than progressing and becoming a genuine force in Italy and Europe.
What do you think of the weekend's action in Serie A? Let me know on Twitter, @ColliOBrien.
