The Serie A season is down to its last two weeks, and there is still so much to play for at the top and the bottom of the table.
The two Milan clubs are still battling for the Scudetto as Milan continue to keep their city rivals Inter at bay thanks to their two emerging young stars.
Meanwhile, the relegation battle is similarly tight, with all of the bottom four picking up points as they were involved in dramatic matches.
Read on below as SBOTOP shares the top three takeaways from another action-packed weekend in the Italian top flight.
Milan youngsters come up big again
AC Milan continue to hold serve in the title race. The league leaders overcame an early deficit to claim a 3-1 victory away to Verona.
Stefano Pioli’s side, who still hold a two-point lead over Inter, have now won four games in a row and are unbeaten in their last 14 league matches.
Once again, the young duo of Sandro Tonali and Rafael Leao came up big for Milan. Tonali bagged a brace, with Leao assisting both goals. Substitute Alessandro Florenzi added a third late on.
Tonali had a subpar first season with Milan last season, but he has been in fantastic form to end his second campaign. He scored a crucial stoppage-time winner against Lazio and put in a man-of-the-match performance in their win over Fiorentina.
Leao has been equally impressive. The Portuguese playmaker has produced several key Serie A 2022 highlights with two goals and three assists in his last five games. He also assisted Tonali’s winner against Lazio and scored a late winner himself against Fiorentina.
It’s a testament to the mental strength of these two talented 22-year-olds that they continue to come through for Milan amid the immense pressure of the title race. And the Rossoneri will need their dynamic due to deliver in their final two games in order to finally end their decade-long title drought.
Inter won’t give up title without a fight
However, don’t expect defending champions Inter to give up their title without a fight. The Nerazzurri found themselves in a massive hole as they were 2-0 down at home against Empoli after just half an hour.
And to make matters worse, it was young striker Andrea Pinamonti, who is on loan from Inter, who put the visitors in front after just five minutes.
But the champions came back with a vengeance. Simone Inzaghi’s men were level by half-time and scored twice more in the last half hour to grab a 4-2 win.
Lautaro Martinez was excellent again as he bagged a brace. The Argentine has now netted seven goals in his last six appearances and is up to 19 goals in the season.
The Serie A 2022 betting odds will back Inter to win their final two games against Cagliari and Sampdoria, who are both in the bottom five. The two are still fighting for their Serie A lives, but as Inter showed in their Empoli comeback, they too have the fighting spirit as they look to retain their title.
Relegation race delivers more drama
Speaking of the bottom of the table, the Serie A relegation race was filled with drama this past weekend. Bottom club Venezia faced Bologna and Salernitana faced Cagliari; both matches didn’t disappoint as they were decided by late goals.
The Venezia-Bologna match was an absolute barn-burner. The hosts took a 2-0 lead after just 20 minutes, but Bologna battled back with three goals of their own to go 3-2 up. But Venezia equalised with a penalty 12 minutes from time, and then got a stoppage-time winner to hand Bologna their first defeat since manager Sinisa Mihajlovic’s second stage of treatment for leukaemia.
Not to be outdone, the Salernitana-Cagliari match also had its share of drama. Simone Verdi had given the hosts the lead, but both teams shortly went down to 10 men as Franck Ribery and Boris Radunovic were sent off.
Salernitana were mere seconds away from a win that would have sent them four points clear of Cagliari, but the visitors scored a very late equaliser in the 99th minute to keep their survival hopes very much alive.
As things stand, Cagliari are just a point away from Salernitana, who are in 17th. Meanwhile, Venezia kept their faint hopes of survival alive as they are five points from safety with just six points left to play for.
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