Gianluca Busio and Christian Pulisic were both on-point for their respective teams in weekend Serie A action, with Venezia earning their first win of the season over Genoa, and AC Milan taking a remarkable victory over reigning champions Inter.
Venezia 2 – 0 Genoa
Gianluca Busio’s starring role for Venezia on Saturday helped to push the team to its first victory over the season, as his goal earned the team the full three points against visiting Genoa.
The American was the clear man-of-the-match after the final whistle had blown, not only scoring what ended up being the winning goal just after the hour, but giving his team a golden, albeit wasted chance several minutes before.
Busio was deployed just left of center in Eusebio di Franco’s five-man midfield, and put in the sort of 89-minute shift that made him emerge as one of Serie B’s top contributors last season. In addition to his goal and drawn penalty, he had a total of two shots, set up a further two chances, completed 30 out of 38 passing attempts, accurately connected on three out of five long balls from the back, made one clearance and seven recoveries, won four out of seven duels and drew a pair of fouls.
Both teams had their chances during the opening 45 minutes, with a tenth-minute poke from Venezia’s Gaetano Oristanio nearly giving the hosts the early lead, however Genoa’s Pierluigi Gollini was up to the task for the snap save.
Busio was clearly tripped as he tried to crash into the box to put away Gollini’s deflection on the play, however the referee judged that the opposing defender had cleanly cleared the ball, and the lack of any protestations by the Venezia players seemed to validate the non-call.
Just past the 33-minute mark, the US Olympic standout had a clear chance, lunging in unmarked to head a Michael Svoboda cross towards the upper right corner, but his attempt was just a bit too high.
Ten minutes after the restart, he did, however, give his team the golden opportunity to take the lead. Playing a quick give-and-go with Joel Pohjanpalo, Busio received the ball with momentum headed towards goal, but tripped up from behind by Mattia Bani.
Pohjanpalo stepped up to the spot and placed his attempt towards the lower left corner, however Gollini came up big with a fingertip save to keep the game scoreless.
However, Busio did break the draw in somewhat lucky fashion in the 63rd minute. Receiving the ball from Antonio Candela well outside the area on the left, he sent what looked to be an attempted diagonal pass towards the far post to meet Gaetano Oristanio’s run. The ball instead rolled unimpeded through the area and bounced the upright before rolling back over the goal-line to give Venezia the lead.
With five minutes left, Pohjanpalo atoned for his earlier miss securing the three points for the hosts. John Yeboah juked a pair of defenders just outside the area on the right side, and fired in a sharp cross towards the far post. The Finnish international was lurking in perfect position to hit a one-timed shot just inside the left upright for the 2-0 lead.
The result elevates Venezia to 18th place, however maintaining their rise in the standings will be difficult as they next visit Roma on Sunday.
Juventus 0 – 0 Napoli
Weston McKennie earned a spot in the Juve starting XI for the second straight game, while Wim Weah was a half-time sub in the team’s dire, lifeless, scoreless draw at home against Napoli.
McKennie did attempt one shot in the game, a tenth-minute header from a Kenan Yildiz cross that flew just a bit too high. He earned his first yellow card of the season just past the half-hour for clumsily tackling Alessandro Buongiorno from behind.
Napoli were forced to waste an early sub in the 36th minute after starting keeper Alex Meret went down, with backup Elia Caprile maintaining the shutout for the remainder of the game, although only needing to make one save to do so.
Weah entered at halftime in place of Dusan Vlahovic, and managed one shot and two chances created from a more advanced role than his usual deployment on the wing. Remarkably, he was one of only two subs used by head coach Thiago Motta, an inexplicable lack of in-game adjustment considering the overall lack of any life shown by his team.
While still technically undefeated and in fourth place, a haul of only two wins from their first five games is an unflattering start for the new coach Motta. Juve next visit Genoa on Saturday.
Inter Milan 1 – 2 AC Milan
Christian Pulisic kept his hot streak alive on Sunday evening, giving AC Milan an early advantage in the latest edition of the Derby della Madonnina, as the Rossoneri pulled off one of their most impressive wins in recent memory by taking down city rivals and reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan.
As with Milan’s midweek Champions League match against Liverpool, the USMNT star scored in the opening minutes, however this time, the rest of the team was up to the task of seeing out the victory.
In the tenth minute, Pulisic gave his team the advantage, recovering a loose ball well inside Inter’s half of the field, and speeding through four defenders before poking his shot in the narrow lane just to the left of keeper Jann Sommer for the 1-0 lead.
The equalized 17 minutes later, Lautaro Martinez finding Federico Dimarco with a short pass through a pair of Milan defenders, with the latter having space to whip his shot to the lower left corner.
In the 65th minute, the Rossoneri looked to have caught a break, after the referee initially judged Martinez to have deflected the ball with his upper arm following a corner from Theo Hernandez. However, a VAR replay clearly showed that the ball struck the Argentinean forward’s shoulder, negating the call.
With 12 minutes left and the game looking headed towards a draw, Pulisic was pulled in favor of Noah Okafor as Paolo Fonseca tried to inject a pair of fresh legs into the game. Overall, the coach only used four of his five possible subs, leaving USMNT starter Yunus Musah on the bench for the duration.
Finally, with one minute left in regulation, Milan earned the upset victory, with Tijjani Reijnders whipping in a free kick that Matteo Gabbia powerfully headed into the right side of goal for the winner.
The results sees the Rossoneri climb to seventh in the standings, even on points with Inter. They next host Lecce on Friday evening.
Notes
Both Kristoffer Lund and Jonathan Klinsmann stayed glued to their respective teams’ benches for the duration on Saturday afternoon as Palermo hosted Cesena in a scoreless draw in Serie B action.
Andrija Novakovich started against his old team Frosinone on Sunday afternoon, playing 57 minutes up front for Bari in their 3-0 road victory. While not contributing to any of his team’s three goals, he did manage one shot and set up a pair of chances.The result leaves Bari mid table after six games, with 18th-place Cosenza visiting on Saturday.
