After the break, the 21st round of the Italian championship began, in which the Bergamo "Atalanta" and "Napoli" footballers were the first to enter the battle.
In the match, there was a tough battle, and Tullio Gritti's students at home really managed to give the leaders a serious challenge. However, ultimately in the second half, the hosts missed a goal and the "Serie A" leaders celebrated their 17th victory of the season.
The only goal of the match for the "Napoli" team was scored by the Belgian Dries Mertens in the 65th minute after a fantastic pass from Jose Callejon.
Later on, there were more clashes. In one of them, a victory was achieved by Rome's "Lazio", who rose to third place in the standings.
The capital footballers forced the Verona "Chievo" to surrender in front of their own fans, and the team's excellent form player Sergej Milinković-Savić scored two goals for the winners. The match ended in a smashing 5-1 victory.
Meanwhile, the struggling "Atalanta" fell behind Genoa's "Sampdoria", taking advantage of their chance against Florence's "Fiorentina". Here, Gaston Ramirez and Fabio Quagliarello's tandem played impressively - the latter scored a hat-trick, while the Uruguayan goalkeeper provided three assists.
The second-to-last match in this round was the battle between "Cagliari" and "Milan", the winners after a tough fight being the footballers from the fashion capital. The match featured a total of nine yellow cards, two of which turned into red.
The outcome of the deadlock encounter, as it turned out, was decided in the first half, as neither team managed to score after the break.
"Cagliari" took the lead as early as the eighth minute with Nicolo Barella, but then Nikola Kalinić caused a penalty in the penalty area and Franck Kessie converted the 11-meter penalty. Soon after, Kessie scored again after Kalinić's successful pass, thereby overturning the result.
This didn't change until the end of the match, so "Milan" took home three points, returning to seventh place in the standings.
Later in the evening, the central match of the round took place at the "San Siro" stadium, where the local "Inter" and "Roma" battled.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities to score here, and the hosts could have taken the lead already in the 18th minute thanks to Ivan Perišić. However, his header did not find the goal.
Midway through the half, another Croatian effort was saved by the opponents' goalkeeper Alisson and, much to the disappointment of the fans, Stephan El Shaarawy scored on the next attack, putting the visitors in the lead.
Before the break, "Inter" captain Mauro Icardi could have scored, but the action moved to the second half. Several claims for a penalty were made in it, but it all ended with a yellow card for Joao Cancelo.
Further attempts by "nerazzurri" to equalize the score also ended unsuccessfully - Eder missed several opportunities, and Icardi's shot was again saved by Alisson.
However, success finally smiled on Matías Vecino, whose header leveled the score, with the teams having to share a point.
With the draw, "Inter" dropped to fourth place, while "Roma" remained a step below.
Results:
"Atalanta" 0 - 1 "Napoli" [0-1] 65' Dries Mertens
"Bologna" 3 - 0 "Benevento" [1-0] 35' Mattia Destro [2-0] 73' Sebastien De Maio [3-0] 88' Blerim Džemaili
"Hellas" 0 - 3 "Crotone" [0-1] 3' Andrea Barberis [0-2] 54' Adrian Stoian [62' Bruno Zuculini ("Hellas") sent off [0-3] 67' Federico Ricci
"Lazio" 5 - 1 "Chievo" [1-0] 23' Luis Alberto [1-1] 25' Manuel Pucciarelli [2-1] 32' Sergej Milinković-Savić [3-1] 68' Sergej Milinković-Savić [4-1] 83' Bastos [5-1] 86' Nani
"Sampdoria" 3 - 1 "Fiorentina" [1-0] 30' Fabio Quagliarella [2-0] 60' Fabio Quagliarella [3-0] 68' Fabio Quagliarella [3-1] 80' Carlos Sanchez
"Sassuolo" 1 - 1 "Torino" [0-1] 26' Joel Chukwuma Obi [1-1] 54' Domenico Berardi
"Udinese" 1 - 1 "SPAL 2013" [1-0] 11' Samir [1-1] 49' Sergio Floccari
"Cagliari" 1 - 2 "Milan" [1-0] 8' Nicolo Barella [1-1] 36' Franck Yannick Kessie (from the penalty spot) [1-2] 42' Franck Yannick Kessie 80' Ricardo Rodriguez ("Milan") sent off [88' Nicolo Barella ("Cagliari") sent off
"Inter" 1 - 1 "Roma" [0-1] 31' Stephan El Shaarawy [1-1] 86' Matias Vecino
