Italian Serie A – Round Eighteen

December 20, 2016

Atalanta                                                       2-1                         Empoli

Franck Yannick Kessie 74’                                                      Levan Mchedlidze 51’

Marco D’Alessandro 90’+4’

Atalanta left it late.

Three second half goals decided this match. A late goal from Marco D’Alessandro gave Atalanta a deserved home victory over Empoli.

December 21, 2016

Inter Milan                                      3-0                       Lazio

Ever Banega 54’

Mauro Icardi 56’ 66’

Inter Milan moved four points away from Lazio after scoring three second-half goals to get an important home win ahead of the winter break.

A victory for Lazio would have made them part of the top three in the Serie A.

December 22, 2016

Cagliari                                         4-3                          Sassuolo

Marco Sau 14’                                                            Claud Adjapong 30’

Marco Borriello 62’                                                    Lorenzo Pellegrini 33’

Diego Farias 73’ 76’                                                  Francesco Acerbi 58’

Cagliari came out on top in a 7-goal thriller against a 10-man Sassuolo side. The victory allowed Cagliari to double the gap they had over Sassuolo on the league table.

Fiorentina                                             3-3                       Napoli

Federico Bernardeschi 52’ 69’                                      Lorenzo Insigne 25’

Mauro Zarate 82’                                                              Dries Mertens 68’

                                                                                            Manolo Gabbiadini 90’+4’

Dries Mertens was on the score sheet for Napoli as they scored a late goal to salvage an away point against Fiorentina.

Palermo                                                 1-1                          Pescara

Robin Quaison 33’                                                              Cristiano Biraghi 90’+3’

Both teams remain in the relegation zone after only managing to get a point from this fixture.  A victory won’t have rescued either side from the relegation zone either.

Roma                                                       3-1                           Chievo Verona

Stephan El Shaarawy 45’+1’                                               Jonathan De Guzman 37’

Edin Dzeko 52’                                                                 

Diego Perotti 90’+3’(pen)

With Napoli playing a draw against Fiorentina, Roma took advantage and opened a three-point gap between the two.  

Roma is currently the strongest threat to Juventus title defense.

Sampdoria                                                 0-0                             Udinese

Victory for the home side would have taken the team a point over Udinese.  A goalless draw keeps a two-point gap between the two.

Torino                                                          1-0                                Genoa

Andrea Belotti 49’

In a closely contested match, a single goal in the second half gave Torino a victory to open a gap between themselves and Genoa.