Serie A Takeaways: Three lessons from Matchday 25

Business as usual, with one notable exception

Yes, on paper, Serie A seemed to have a very typical matchday this past weekend. The top seven all won – perhaps not surprisingly, given only two of them played sides placed in the top half of the table (Roma’s victory was over 11th placed Torino, and Milan took down 8th placed Fiorentina at the San Siro).

So it follows that every side from 13th downward failed to win… all except Pescara. In a turn of fate that will sound familiar to Roma fans, Zdenek Zeman returned to the side he coached from 2011-2012, the one he raised from Serie B to Serie A with fledgling but promising young Italian talents that have since become household names, like Marco Verratti, Ciro Immobile, and Lorenzo Insigne.

He returned to a side that had won just once all season and had scored just 22 goals; by full time against Genoa on Sunday, his side earned their second victory – their first at home all season! - and added five goals to their tally. That, too, against a Genoa side that defeated Milan in October, held Napoli to a scoreless draw in September, and defeated Juventus 3-1 in November.

Despite those heroic results, Genoa are now sitting 16th, and would be fearing relegation – if not for the nine-point gap down to the sides in the hot seat. Pescara’s thrilling win was, probably, too late in the season to change anything; the side are ten points and three spots away from safety.

Then again, this is exactly the kind of result that can kickstart a whole new run of form and keep the likes of Genoa and Empoli (in 17th) on their toes.

A tip of the hat to Atalanta

It’s late February and Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are in fifth placed, tied in points with 4th-placed Inter. They’re four points above Milan, one above Lazio, and eight above Fiorentina. They’ve defeated Inter, Napoli, Torino, and Roma too in Bergamo, and picked up points away in Fiorentina and Milan, but their table position is due to one solid facet: they dispatch the smaller sides in the league with consistency.

This weekend was no different: a single goal against Crotone was enough to see them pick up their third win in a row, their fourth in their last five matches. Of all the teams in the league, only Juventus, Napoli, Roma, and Inter have bettered their tally of 13 points in the last six matches. They’ve shown no signs that this is a fluke and are in serious contention for a European spot.

The late goal drama continues

Roma and Torino traded goals after the 84th minute of their match, and while the strikes didn’t affect the outcome of the match, Serie A sides are demonstrating a penchant for late defensive lapses that often prove quite costly. Take Udinese, for instance, who led Sassuolo from the seventh minute, only to lose their lead and then the match once the visitors fired twice quickly with just q0 minutes to go.

Inter and Lazio thanked Gabriel Barbosa and Balde Keita respectively for goals in the 80th minute that earned victory for both sides. And none of the top three could resist conceding late; Juventus conceded their first goal in five matches against Palermo in the 90th, and Napoli let in one against Chievo in the 72nd.

Even if the outcome isn’t always affected, late strikes in seven of the ten matches this weekend signifies that leaving games early is not a wise choice this year in Serie A.