My what a difference a week makes. In the Italian Serie A, the 2015 2016 season has been thoroughly unpredictable so far, and this past weekend's fixtures did nothing to solidify things at the top of the table. Last week, AS Roma were leading the way following a 3-1 home win against Udinese. This weekend, Inter Milan top Roma in one of this season's key Serie A fixtures to take 2nd place in league standings, forcing AS Roma into 3rd.
Indeed, unlike in other European soccer leagues, where clear frontrunners have begun to emerge (Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League; Real Madrid and Barcelona in the La Liga; Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga), the Serie A is a jumble of four clear contenders at the top of the table. Roma and Inter Milan are two of them while the others are Fiorentina and Napoli.
A Missed Opportunity
Roma would make sense as a frontrunner for the 2015 2016 Serie A. Last season and the year before,
the football club finished second in the division, trailing behind a dominant Juventus. With Juve falling apart under the strain of various key player departures this season, Roma had a golden opportunity to carve out a niche at the top of the table.
A win against Internazionale on Saturday would have helped Roma carve out that niche. Such a victory would have put the Wolves at 26 points in the standings, with eight wins, two draws, and one loss. Instead, they stay at 23
points for the second week running, falling to third place behind Fiorentina and Roma.
Roma arguably should have beaten Internazionale, though-or at very least forced a draw. They controlled possession of the ball for more minutes and had more scoring opportunities. They very nearly opened the scoring, too, with Eden Dzeko aiming a header at the bottom corner of the Inter net at the 15-minute mark. Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic saved the home team from an early deficit, parrying the ball away. Eight minutes later, Dzeko was back in the scoring area again, though his effort was blocked this time by defender Danilo D'Ambrosio.
Even when Internazionale's Gary Medel scored at the 31-minute mark, it still seemed like the cards were in the Wolves' favor. Dzeko, in particular, was on fire, and nearly put another header into the net at the start of the second half. But Handanovic was like a brick wall, keeping out a flurry of Roma shots around the 61-minute mark.
Ultimately, Roma's chances were dashed at the 73-minute mark, when Miralem Pjanic received his second yellow card. The penalty, earned for a deliberate handball, resulted in Pjanic being sent off with a red card, forcing the Wolves to play the last 20 minutes of the match one man down. That factor, paired with Handanovic's suburb goalkeeping, gave Internazionale the gas they needed to surge to a win.
Current Serie A StatisticsÂ
Inter's win pushes the Black and Blues to 24 points on the 2015 2016 Serie A table. Fiorentina also have
24 points, thanks in part to a big 4-1 win against Frosinone over the weekend. Fiorentina are currently edging out Internazionale, thanks to a superior goal difference rating.
In fact, Inter's low, low goal difference (+4) makes the football club's success this season that much more surprising. In comparison, the other three teams in the top four are at either +12 or +13 in GD. The Black and Blues have been largely ineffective offensively this fall, scoring only 11
goals in their first 11 Serie A fixtures.
Handanovic and Inter's defense have made up for the lack of goals, though. Handanovic has notched seven clean sheets so far this season and has only allowed seven goals total-the lowest of any soccer club in the league. In comparison, Roma have been the top offensive club in the 2015 2016 Serie A, netting 25 goals in 11 fixtures. However, they've also allowed 13 goals, with goalkeeper Wojciech Szcz?sny only tallying a single clean sheet.
Fiorentina are in the lead because they have better balance than either Inter or Roma. Their goalkeeper, Ciprian Tatarusanu, has kept five clean sheets and only allowed nine goals. The rest of the squad, meanwhile, has scored 22 goals so far.
So what will happen with the rest of the season? Will Fiorentina's strong offensive and defensive balance earn them the frontrunner seat? Will Roma learn to defend better to make their high goal tallies matter? Or will the wearers of the Inter Milan jersey 2015 2016 start scoring more goals to become the complete package? At Soccer Box, we want to hear your predictions! Find us on multiple social networking platforms including Twitter, Tumblr, and Google + to talk football!
Indeed, unlike in other European soccer leagues, where clear frontrunners have begun to emerge (Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League; Real Madrid and Barcelona in the La Liga; Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga), the Serie A is a jumble of four clear contenders at the top of the table. Roma and Inter Milan are two of them while the others are Fiorentina and Napoli.
A Missed Opportunity
Roma would make sense as a frontrunner for the 2015 2016 Serie A. Last season and the year before,
the football club finished second in the division, trailing behind a dominant Juventus. With Juve falling apart under the strain of various key player departures this season, Roma had a golden opportunity to carve out a niche at the top of the table.
A win against Internazionale on Saturday would have helped Roma carve out that niche. Such a victory would have put the Wolves at 26 points in the standings, with eight wins, two draws, and one loss. Instead, they stay at 23
points for the second week running, falling to third place behind Fiorentina and Roma.Roma arguably should have beaten Internazionale, though-or at very least forced a draw. They controlled possession of the ball for more minutes and had more scoring opportunities. They very nearly opened the scoring, too, with Eden Dzeko aiming a header at the bottom corner of the Inter net at the 15-minute mark. Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic saved the home team from an early deficit, parrying the ball away. Eight minutes later, Dzeko was back in the scoring area again, though his effort was blocked this time by defender Danilo D'Ambrosio.
Even when Internazionale's Gary Medel scored at the 31-minute mark, it still seemed like the cards were in the Wolves' favor. Dzeko, in particular, was on fire, and nearly put another header into the net at the start of the second half. But Handanovic was like a brick wall, keeping out a flurry of Roma shots around the 61-minute mark.
Ultimately, Roma's chances were dashed at the 73-minute mark, when Miralem Pjanic received his second yellow card. The penalty, earned for a deliberate handball, resulted in Pjanic being sent off with a red card, forcing the Wolves to play the last 20 minutes of the match one man down. That factor, paired with Handanovic's suburb goalkeeping, gave Internazionale the gas they needed to surge to a win.
Current Serie A StatisticsÂ
Inter's win pushes the Black and Blues to 24 points on the 2015 2016 Serie A table. Fiorentina also have
24 points, thanks in part to a big 4-1 win against Frosinone over the weekend. Fiorentina are currently edging out Internazionale, thanks to a superior goal difference rating.
In fact, Inter's low, low goal difference (+4) makes the football club's success this season that much more surprising. In comparison, the other three teams in the top four are at either +12 or +13 in GD. The Black and Blues have been largely ineffective offensively this fall, scoring only 11
goals in their first 11 Serie A fixtures.Handanovic and Inter's defense have made up for the lack of goals, though. Handanovic has notched seven clean sheets so far this season and has only allowed seven goals total-the lowest of any soccer club in the league. In comparison, Roma have been the top offensive club in the 2015 2016 Serie A, netting 25 goals in 11 fixtures. However, they've also allowed 13 goals, with goalkeeper Wojciech Szcz?sny only tallying a single clean sheet.
Fiorentina are in the lead because they have better balance than either Inter or Roma. Their goalkeeper, Ciprian Tatarusanu, has kept five clean sheets and only allowed nine goals. The rest of the squad, meanwhile, has scored 22 goals so far.
So what will happen with the rest of the season? Will Fiorentina's strong offensive and defensive balance earn them the frontrunner seat? Will Roma learn to defend better to make their high goal tallies matter? Or will the wearers of the Inter Milan jersey 2015 2016 start scoring more goals to become the complete package? At Soccer Box, we want to hear your predictions! Find us on multiple social networking platforms including Twitter, Tumblr, and Google + to talk football!
