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The fifth Match Day of the Serie A 2018-19 season saw the league leaders Juventus up against newly promoted Frosinone, with Juve summer signing Ronaldo looking to forget his controversial red card in the mid-week clash against Valencia in the Champions League. Napoli took on Torino with an aim to solidify their position in the table and keep their title challenge alive this season. Inter Milan faced off against a tough Sampdoria side, winning only in stoppage time following three goals disallowed by VAR in the match.
Here, we take a look at the five main talking points from Match Day 5 of the Serie A 2018-19 season:
#5 Juventus defeat Frosinone to maintain perfect record:
Juventus faced Frosinone on Match Day 5 of the Serie A. Allegri's men had already endured a tough mid-week Champions League clash at the Mestalla against Valencia. Juve had won that match courtesy of two Miralem Pjanic goals converted from penalties, despite the fact that their star summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off controversially. Juventus started the match with a 4-3-3 formation with Dybala, Mandzukic and Ronaldo upfront. Betancur started the match in midfield along with Emre Can and Miralem Pjanic, Juan Cuadrado playing in a wing back role. Frosinone have only won one out of their four matches before this and it was expected that Juve would make easy work of them.
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Ronaldo almost opened the scoring for Juventus in the 8th minute which he struck neatly following a header which Mandzukic won. But Frosinone defender Capuano cleared from the line to deny Ronaldo and Juve. Ronaldo had another chance in the 20th minute when his shot was saved by Sportiello. Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado in the right-back role created all sorts of problems for the Frosinone defence throughout the first half. Mandzukic had a clear cut chance in the 31st minute as well but could not score as the first half ended goalless.
To break down the Frosinone defence, Allegri brought on Bernardeschi for Betancur, an attack-minded substitution. Ronaldo, Dybala and Mandzukic had several chances in the second half but could not get the lead for Juve. But with less than 10 minutes to go, a shot from Pjanic blocked by a defender fell into Ronaldo's path and he scored to give Juventus the much needed goal. Bernardeschi doubled the lead in stoppage time when he converted from a Pjanic assist on a ball won by Ronaldo in his own penalty area. Juventus sit top of the Serie A table with 15 points from 5 games and up next for then is a Seria A midweek clash against Bologna who stunned Roma this week.
#4 Insigne inspires Napoli to another win over Torino:
Napoli faced off against Torino on Match Day 5 of Serie A after their goalless midweek draw against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions league. Carlo Ancelotti started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Insigne, Mertens, Callejon and Verdi in attacking roles and Hamsik in his customary midfield anchor role. Torino lined up in a 3-5-2 with the strike force pairing of Belotti and Zaza up front.
Lorenzo Insigne opened the scoring for Napoli in the 4th minute to give the home side an early lead. Simone Verdi doubled the lead when he scored from a Mertens cross in the 20th minute. The first half ended in a 2-0 lead for Napoli.
In the second half, Torino were given a lifeline when Luperto conceded a penalty and Belotti scored from the spot to pull one back for Torino. But any chance of a Torino comeback was over when Insigne scored from a Callejon rebound which had struck the post.
The match ended 3-1 with Napoli having a few more chances in the second half which they could not convert. Napoli are second in the table with 12 points in 5 games, their only loss being against Sampdoria. Up next for Napoli is a home fixture against Parma while Torino are away against Atalanta in the midweek Serie A fixtures.
# 3 Roma's poor run continues as they lose to Bologna
Roma have not had best start so far this season having secured only 5 points from their four matches in Seria A before this and also losing their opening Matchday clash against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the UEFA Champions League.
Coach Eusebio DiFrancesco was hoping to turn things around with a win against Bologna who had themselves been unimpressive bagging only a solitary point from their four matches. Roma lined up in a 4-3-3 with Dzeko, Kluivert and Perotti leading the attack against Bologna's largely defensive 3-5-2 formation. Roma dominated possession across both the halves but were not clinical enough to score. Dzeko, Florenzi and Pastore, who had come on for Cristante in the second half, had several clear cut chances which they missed. Bologna took full advantage of this with Mattielo and Santander scoring a goal each in the 36th and 59th minute respectively.
Roma have a lot to retrospect from their opening season performance as they will now have to manage multiple competitions in the upcoming matches. Up next for DiFrancesco's men is a home tie against Frosinone in the midweek Serie A match.
#2 Brozovic wins it for Inter against Sampdoria with a late goal as VAR rules out three goals:
Inter had started the Serie A campaign on a rough note this season with only four points from their opening four matches. But they had turned it around against Tottenham in the midweek Champions League opening day clash, coming back from behind to defeat the English team. Icardi was the main man responsible for the turnaround against Spurs and the same was expected of him against Sampdoria as well. Sampdoria had started their Serie A season with 7 points from their opening 4 games including an impressive win over Napoli.
Luciano Spalleti started the match with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Candreva, Politano and Naingollan supporting the lone striker Icardi. Both teams created enough chances but failed to score in the first half. Naingollan scored a brilliant goal in the 44th minute only to disallowed by VAR. The first half ended goalless. In the second half, Candreva and Quagliarella had the best chances for Inter and Sampdoria respectively but both failed to score. With less than three minutes remaining, Asamoah scored but again the goal was ruled out as the ball went out of play in the build up and Inter were denied again. The same happened again minutes later with Defrel scoring for Sampdoria but VAR ruled it as offside. With the match all set to finish goalless, Brozovic scored in the 94th minute off a low range shot from a free kick on the left wing.
As Inter edged past Sampdoria, they are now the 9th place with seven points, behind Sampdoria on goal difference. Up next for Inter is a tough clash against Fiorentina while Sampdoria face off against Cagliari away.
#1 Milan held to a draw in the Serie A again against Atalanta
Milan and Atalanta both have had a tough start to their respective Serie A campaigns this season with Milan securing 4 points from their opening three games and Atalanta on the same number of points having played a game extra. Atalanta, however, could not qualify for the Europa League Group stage this season and could afford additional rest as compared to Milan who had to see off Luxembourg side Dudelange in the Thursday night Europa League fixture. Gattuso started his team in a 4-3-3 while Atalanta began with a cautious 3-4-1-2 formation. The Argentines Gonzalo Higuain and Alejandro Gomez were leading the attack for Milan and Roma respectively.
Higuain struck in the second minute itself to hand Milan a lead early on, with Suso providing the assist. Things were looking good for Milan when Bonaventura scored again in the 21st minute but the goal stood disallowed due to VAR. The first half ended 1-0 in favour of Milan, with Bonaventura's effort hitting the post and Kessie's shot saved by the Atalanta keeper. In the second half, Zapata had a clear chance which he missed in the 50th minute. But just four minutes later, the talisman for Atalanta, Papu Gomez equalized in the 54th minute, with an assist from Zapata. Suso provided the second assist soon when Bonaventura converted in the 61st minute to restore Milan's lead. Suso had a great chance to give another assist but it could not materialize while Atalanta's search for an equalizer came close with Gosens and deRoon. Ultimately though, Atalanta's persistence paid off as they equalized again with a Rigoni goal in the 91st minute against a sloppy Milan defence.
Both Milan and Atalanta are on 5 points each with Milan edging out Atalanta in the 12th place on goal difference as well as having played a game less. Up next for Milan is a game is an away game against Empoli while Atalanta host Torino in Serie A midweek fixtures.
