The Italian Serie A promises to be one of the most exhilarating leagues in Europe this season following what has been an unpredictable start to the 2022-23 campaign.
There have been three different league winners over the last three seasons in Italy, and current joint leaders Napoli and Atalanta will be hoping to join that elite group following an unbeaten start that has produced seven wins and two draws for both sides. With the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus suffering wobbly starts, could that give the table toppers and the Romas, Udineses and Lazios a chance to strongly challenge for the title?
Predicting how the Serie A campaign would go this term will be very difficult, but it will definitely be an exciting title race and here are the results and talking points from matchday seven.
Friday, 16 September
Salernitana 1 Lecce 2
Davide Nicola’s side were shocked at home by newly promoted Lecce, with Assan Ceesay putting the visitors ahead shortly before half-time.
The hosts equalised through an unfortunate own goal from Joan Gonzalez 10 minutes after play restarted, but Marco Baroni’s men had the last laugh as Gabriel Strefezza came off the bench to curl in the winner with seven minutes left on the clock.
Lecce’s first win of the campaign after three draws and three losses puts them in 15th place in the table, while Salernitana are in 13th following a win, four draws and two losses.
Saturday, 17 September.
Bologna 0 Empoli 1
Bologna suffered their third loss of the season at home to Paolo Zanetti’s men, failing to convert the little chances they created.
Empoli were presented with two opportunities to take the lead in the first-half after defensive mistakes, but they did not score until the 75th minute when Filippo Bandinelli put the ball into an empty net after the goalkeeper’s attempt at a save deflected towards him.
Thiago Motta’s men struck the bar twice and were left rueing their missed chances at the end of the day, with the result leaving them in 16th place in the table following a win and three other draws.
Empoli are in 14th place as a result of their first win of the season, and they have recorded four draws and two losses in other fixtures.
Spezia 2 Sampdoria 1
Sampdoria have backed Marco Giampaolo despite a return of two draws and five defeats so far this season, but President Marco Lanna has claimed that “temporary confidence is not something that can help anyone”, and the writing is clearly on the wall.
The Genoa-based outfit raced into the lead 11 minutes into the game through a fantastic long-range effort from Abdelhamid Sabiri, but their lead lasted just a few seconds as an unfortunate own goal from Jeison Murillo drew the hosts level.
M’bala Nzola put Spezia ahead in the 72nd minute, and that was enough to hand his side all three points despite the visitors’ late efforts.
Sampdoria remain bottom of the Serie A table, while Luca Gotti’s side are in 12th place after two wins, two draws and three losses.
Torino 0 Sassuolo 1
Ivan Juric’s side were condemned to their third defeat of the season no thanks to a very late goal from Agustín Álvarez.
Valentino Lazaro had a goal rightly cancelled for offside in the first-half after checks from VAR, and a late header from Alvarez some minutes after he came on handed Alessio Dionisi’s side their second win of the season, with the result leaving them in 11th place following three draws and two defeats.
Torino are ninth in the table, with three wins and a draw so far.
Sunday, 18 September.
Udinese 3 Inter Milan 1
Udinese handed Simone Inzaghi’s side their third defeat of the campaign, with five wins now to their name.
Nicolo Barella opened the scoring for Inter five minutes into the game with a superb free-kick, but an own goal from Milan Skriniar 17 minutes after a free-kick from the hosts drew them level.
The match was evenly poised heading into the last five minutes of regulation time, but headers from Jaka Bijol and Tolgay Arslan in the 85th minute and 93rd minute, respectively, secured all three points for the hosts.
Andrea Sottil’s side are third in the table having lost just once and drawn once of seven games, while Inter are seventh having won four times.
Cremonese 0 Lazio 4
The newly-promoted hosts are finding life in the Serie A too tough to handle, suffering their fifth game of the campaign having drawn the other two.
Maurizio Sarri’s side were 3-0 up in the opening 45 minutes, with Ciro Immobile scoring his fourth and fifth goals of the season before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic found the back of the net.
Pedro Rodriguez completed the rout with 11 minutes left on the clock, and Lazio’s fourth victory of the season, amid two draws and a loss, leaves them in fourth place, while Massimiliano Alvini’s side are in 19th position.
Fiorentina 2 Verona 0
Vincenzo Italiano’s side secured their second win of the season with a deserved victory over Verona, with Jonathan Ikone opening the scoring 13 minutes into the game.
Cristiano Biraghi missed a chance to double the hosts’ lead from the spot, with Lorenzo Montipo saving his effort.
Nicolás González wrapped things up for Fiorentina in the 90th minute, and the result leaves them in 10th place after three draws and two losses, while Gabriele Cioffi’s side are 17th in the table, with a win, two draws and four defeats to their name.
Monza 1 Juventus 0
The newly-promoted side shocked 10-man Juve, with Angel Di Maria shown his marching order five minutes from the break for violent conduct after elbowing Armando Izzo.
Chris Gytkjaer bundled in Patrick Ciurria’s cross with 16 minutes left, and the visitors could not find a way back, suffering their first defeat of the campaign.
Raffaele Palladino’s side are 18th in the table after the win, a draw and five losses, while Massimiliano Allegri’s side are in eighth place, with two wins and four stalemates under their belt so far.
Roma 0 Atalanta 1
Jose Mourinho‘s side suffered their second defeat of the campaign at the hands of the second-placed side, with the hosts missing several chances to score, while they had three penalty appeals waved away.
Giorgio Scalvini gave Gian Piero Gasperini’s side the lead 10 minutes before half-time, and that was the only chance they needed to secure a hard-fought win.
Mourinho was sent off in the second-half as the official’s constant refusal to hand him side a spot kick irked him, but Roma have themselves to blame for their missed chances having dominated the game from start to finish.
They have won four times and drawn once this term, and are sixth in the table.
AC Milan 1 Napoli 2
The defending champions suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the leaders, with Matteo Politano putting Luciano Spalletti’s side ahead from the spot 10 minutes after the restart.
Olivier Giroud drew Milan level 14 minutes later, but Giovanni Simeone‘s 78th header broke the hearts of Stefano Pioli’s men.
Pierre Kalulu missed a chance to draw the hosts late on in the game as he was denied by the bar, and the result leaves Milan in fifth place after four wins and two draws.
