Serie A Matchday 7: Three things we learned

Serie A’s seventh round of matches was a glorious one for the Romanisti faithful: Roma’s 2-1 win over Inter shot the side up to third place, just a point behind Napoli in second (and, as is noted below, these two sides are facing off incredibly soon).

But how did it turn out for the rest of the league, with the season now one-fifth of the way through?

There is some hope for away sides after all!

Life in the very young Italian league was immensely difficult for sides that were travelling, with most weeks having three matchups or fewer that saw the visitors take any points at all. This week Chievo, Lazio, Juventus and Genoa all managed to notch victories against Pescara, Udinese, Empoli, and Bologna, respectively.

More encouragingly, at least for those sides about to embark on an away trip, three of those wins were by multiple goals - suggesting that there’s a reason each of those sides besides Bologna are right in relegation territory.

In short: the wheat is finally starting to separate from the chaff, and as weeks go on, we should see more and more games where traditionally weaker sides give up points at home. The first few weeks of the season, however, demonstrate that no team, no matter how “big,” should take that for granted.

Though surprises overall are down

How many results this weekend were truly shocking? Napoli losing to Atalanta certainly was, for one, with Mauricio Sarri’s men firing blanks and recording their first loss of the league season. Otherwise, not much here will have raised a lot of eyebrows.

Milan and Sassuolo shared goals before Vincenzo Montella’s men overturned a two goal deficit with three quick-fire goals midway through the second half. Sampdoria and Palermo tying seems about right for two sides struggling towards the bottom of the league, and Cagliari managed to rack up their third win of the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the side propping up the bottom of the table, Crotone.

Perhaps only Torino’s home win over Fiorentina can be considered out of the ordinary, although the visitors have been struggling for much of the season and Sinisa Mihajlovic’s group – as Roma know only too well - have yet to be defeated at home.

This league is built for strikers

Of the six players with at least five goals this season, all but one can be considered a traditional striker; only Jose Callejon fails to fit the mold, with Roma’s own Edin Dzeko and Torino’s Andrea Belotti behind the Argentine duo of Gonzalo Higuain and Mauro Icardi and Milan’s Carlos Bacca.

Callejon and Belotti failed to score this weekend - while Icardi was credited with the own goal that led to Roma’s win - but the other three players all made it onto the scoresheet along with Giovanni Simeone (Diego’s son), Ciro Immobile, and Paulo Dybala.

Strikers are flourishing this season in the league, with wingers thus far finding it just a bit more difficult to score than it was last season.

What does it all mean for Roma?

From Roma’s point of view, this weekend continued to fit the mold. They stood as a home side who denied the away team the victory – a trend that may be changing but still remains intact. Dzeko’s five goals not only represents an incredibly solid output but fits in line with his fellow strikers for the season.

What Roma need to focus on is bucking the league trend of away difficulties when Luciano Spalletti’s men travel to Napoli during the early match this Saturday.

“We've dropped too many points on the road and a team like Roma can't be doing that,” as Kevin Strootman said after Sunday’s win. “The pitch is the same, the referees are the same and the only difference is the fans.

“We're professionals and we need to do our jobs away from home and pick up more points.”