AS Roma 2-2 Salernitana: AS Roma has not won in Serie A for the sixth time in a row. At home against Salernitana, José Mourinho’s team had to chase twice. In the end, the Romans took one point.
Due to the disappointing series without a win, the prospect of Champions League placement via Serie A has become increasingly clouded in recent weeks. Against Salernitana, Roma hoped to regain some confidence with a view to next Wednesday’s Europa League final against Sevilla.
Lassane Coulibaly saw Antonio Candreva sprint into the depths in the twelfth minute and sent a long pass to the 36-year-old Italian. The ex-Lazio player estimated the deep pass perfectly. Candreva jumped up at just the right moment and carelessly placed the ball in the far corner. Roma goalkeeper Rui Patrício had no chance at all with the controlled volley that evoked memories of Dennis Bergkamp.
Mourinho made three substitutions at the start of the second half and brought in tastemaker Lorenzo Pellegrini, among others. That worked. Salernitana goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa badly processed a free kick from the attacking midfielder, after which Stephan El Shaarawy made it 1-1 from close range.
The response from the visitors followed quickly. Boulaye Dia scored by working the ball behind his standing leg into the Roman goal: 1-2. Salernitana tried to defend the lead. The pressure from Roma increased. In the 83rd minute there was no stopping Salernitana, when the ball in the penalty area fell well for Nemanja Matic. The controller hit the mark and determined the final score at 2-2. The shortest route to the Champions League for AS Roma is via the Europa League final.
Empoli 4-1 Juventus
Empoli completed Juventus’ disaster night. After the team from Turin was deducted ten points earlier this evening, Empoli also walked over the Italian superpower with ease.
Just before kick-off, it was announced that Juventus will be deducted ten points. In addition, the players apparently failed to fully focus on Empoli. The current number fourteen of the Serie A already took a comfortable lead before the break. After just under twenty minutes,they conceded a penalty kick, which was shot in by Francesco Caputo (1-0). The 35-year-old Italian also played an important role in the second goal a few minutes later. His half bicycle kick flew towards goal via a fellow player. Wojciech Szczesny was able to make a save at first, but Sebastiano Luperto made it 2-0 in the rebound.
The dream evening for Caputo became even more beautiful when he was allowed to make his second of the game just after the break. Alex Sandro caused a sensation by protesting to the referee about an alleged foul, was simply passed by Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro and then it was a matter of laying wide and hanging: 3-0.
A few minutes before the end, substitute Federico Chiesa saved some honor by making it 3-1 with a deflected shot, but the suffering got worse for Juventus. In stoppage time, Roberto Piccoli pulled in and outwitted Szczesny in the short corner with a concealed shot: 4-1.
So it became a night to forget very quickly for Juventus, just like probably this whole season. Because with the defeat in the bag and the ten points deducted, Juve is now in seventh place in Serie A. Juventus still plays against AC Milan and Udinese.
