Sofia Cantore was subbed in for Valentina Bergamaschi, but I suppose they didn't use the Cangoals caption, this time.
Well, 4-0 FT. I could promise to post the highlights later, but I've got the impression that @Lohmann will do that first.
So, end of the Champions' League's dream for the Italian teams for this season : back to the domestic league until the end. Today, Lazio take revenge from the first round's match vs Milan: many of you will remember that back then Milan had managed to win a match that they actually had no business winning and that Lazio had wasted the chance of a deserved win by missing a PK on a 1-1 score with Martina Piemonte. Well, today, the player who had been to blame that day becomes Lazio's hero, with a brace (one goal per half) giving the win to her team: both Martina Piemonte's goals were assisted by Martina Zanoli (who is thus somehow forgiven for having missed a sitter at the beginning of the 2nd Half, on a 1-0 score ): basically it was a Martina + Martina connection . Milan's most dangerous player, as usual, was Evelyn Ijeh, but this time she couldn't do much to help her mostly uninspired team-mates (also because of Sara Cetinja, who kept Lazio's advantage safe in the 1st Half with a pair outstanding saves). The title-pool becomes more and more hard to reach for Milan (since tomorrow Como could easily win the away game vs last-place Sampdoria, thus leaving them 4 points behind), while Lazio momentarily pass Sassuolo and, at 10, are now the closest team to Milan themselves (although they're still 5 points behind them). Napoli-Roma was played under a pouring rain and it was the home team who went ahead early with an header by 19 yo Ginevra Moretti, at her first in Serie A Femminile (she's one of the promising youngsters who are on loan to Napoli from Juventus): coming back wasn't easy for Roma, who was even lucky when Manuela Sciabica's shot crashed on the crossbar at the end of the 1st Half. Then an helping hand came for Italy's champions: Natalie Muth managed to pick up a second Yellow Card and was sent off at 70'; does it remind you of anything? It looks like this player's only role is to foul like there's no tomorrow, until she fatally gets a Red Card. Being down a player, Napoli couldn't do much to fight Roma, but, after Manuela Giugliano's equalizer, the visitor team had anyway to wait until 90'+2' to finally find the winner, with an header from CK action by Moeka Minami. Roma are now at 2nd-place and they're probably torn about Fiorentina-Juventus that's scheduled for tomorrow: a win by Fiorentina could keep the dream alive of actually fighting for the title, but maybe it's better for them if Juventus keep the Viola at bay and prevent them from taking back the 2nd-place; the fight for a Champions' League's spot will sure be complicated this season . The matches from today: Lazio 2-0 Milan Napoli 1-2 Roma And the highlights:
Mmm, in fact the names in the "pyramid" were pre-determined by the journalist (not sure which source he was using) and Pauline Peyraud-Magnin wasn't among them, so Laura Giuliani wasn't asked to put it there. Did you appreciate that, when she was asked about herself, she showed disappoinment that the 1st and 2nd row were already taken?
By the way, what is your comment to Natalie Muth's 2nd Red Card of the season, @Lohmann? Considering the matches she'll have to skip while suspended, do you think she could anyway end setting a new record of RCs in a single season for Serie A Femminile?
I don't know how many red cards she needs for this record. Her red cards always seems to be the result of constant fouls (no straight red card(the same in Germany)) so she is likely the ideal type of player for such a record (no longer suspensions).
Actually I don't either! (I already told you how hard is to find stats about women's football in Italy ). But she seems on her way to make it anyway!
The first match of today was really one-way traffic, since Inter quite easily disposed of Sassuolo with an indisputable 3-0 win: the goals were scored by Ivana Andrés in the 1st Half (an header from CK action) and by Martina Tomaselli and Elisa Polli in the 2nd Half. Sassuolo was only left the space for some dangerous shots in the final part of the match, when the result had been already secured. It's a very important win for Inter, who catch Roma at 2nd place; Sassuolo keep been stuck at 8th place instead, one point behind Lazio. Como knew today's game was crucial to put some separation between them and Milan and to make a big step in the run for the title pool: they were so aware of that that they scored after just 46" seconds of the game, with Nadine Nischler, who sure is the revelation of the league so far. It looked like it was the start of a dominating performance by Como, but Amanda Tampieri repeatedly denied them instead and in the 2nd Half Sampdoria unexpectedly came back: not only they found the equalizer when Sara Baldi tapped in the rebound from a Bianca Fallico's header that had crashed on the crossbar, but they also forced some good saves from Astrid Gilardi. Just when it seemed that a 1-1 draw was the fairest score, at 90'+2', the game ended the same way it had started: with another goal by outstanding Nadine Nischler, who gave her team that win they were looking for since the beginning! It officially was listed as an Amanda Tampieri's own goal, but if it were up to me, I'd give it to Nischler. Juventus is today at +7 over the closest rivals (Roma and Inter): if, as it seems more and more likely, they will win their 6th national title this season, it will be mostly signed by Sofia Cantore: check-out her brace in the 2nd Half that stunned Fiorentina in just three minutes. Agnese Bonfantini was much less clinical on the other side of the pitch and there it is, in a nutshell, the difference between the two teams. Then, at 90'+2', Barbara Bonansea gave a lecture about scoring a goal, but the game had already been decided way earlier, at that point. Juventus look out of reach by now, while Fiorentina are now 2 points behind the top three: could it be for them the crucial moment when they start losing contact with the Champions' League's zone? Recap of today's games: Inter 3-0 Sassuolo Sampdoria 1-2 Como Fiorentina 0-3 Juventus Highlights:
1.Juventus 35 38-12 2.Inter 28 25-7 3.Roma 28 26-14 4.Fiorentina 26 23-17 5.Como 19 20-22 6.Milan 15 11-16 7.Lazio 10 16-20 8.Sassuolo 9 18-29 9.Napoli 6 5-20 10.Sampdoria 4 5-30 Tomorrow draw for EURO 2025!
Well.. Suzanne Bakker will not counjure wins out of thin air for AC Milan. Club owners need to start investing much more money, time and effort into women's team (mostly into roster and pre-season camps) else Rossonere will spend another season in relegation group. Speaking about FC Como... it looks like Mercury/13 ownership is starting to work it's magic
There is a little piece of Serie A Femminile in the draw for Euro 2025: one of the players involved in the draw is Vero Boquete.
Leonardo Bonucci is a traitor! As an Italian he should have drawn Italy in Switzerland's group, but he's drawn us in Spain's group instead!!!
At least we get Belgium from pot 3, as desidered: Caroline Seger is more honest! As I already mentioned, it isn't necessarily an "easy" team, but it had the lowest FIFA ranking's position in pot 3.