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There seems to be a common theme among the teams fighting to win the Serie A Femminile title this season. They all have at least one reliable goalscorer.
With Valentina Giacinti, AC Milan have one of the most reliable and emphatic strikers in the business, and she will be in double figures in no time at all.
Every great striker needs a partner to either facilitate their greatness or step in when they’re having an off-day. With new signing Lindsey Thomas, Milan seem to have that as well.
The game against Lazio seemed to be about as easy as it could possibly get for the Rossonere. They strolled through the Biancoceleste midfield and defence so unbelievably nonchalantly. It was difficult to tell if it was a reflection of Milan’s quality or Lazio’s inferiority. It was most likely both.
By the 32nd minute of the match in Rome on Saturday afternoon, Giacinti had picked up her first hat-trick of the season and it most likely will not be her last. The goalscoring had already been opened after five minutes by Thomas who tucked away a beautifully worked goal.
3 & 21 – Valentina #Giacinti has scored a hat-trick against Lazio in 21′, the fastest of the AC Milan striker in Serie A since the one she netted with Atalanta Mozzanica in April 2016 (three goals in 17′ vs Luserna). Thunderbolt. #LazioMilan pic.twitter.com/byjTah3EoD
— OptaPaolo ? (@OptaPaolo) September 11, 2021
Throughout the half, there had been some excellent, instinctive interplay between the two forwards and they were complimented excellently by Veronica Boquete and Valentina Bergamaschi.
In the 54th minute, Thomas added another goal for herself. Three minutes later Giacinti grabbed her fourth and Milan’s sixth. Maurizio Ganz then had to do what every fan hates and understands. If you’re 6-0 up, it makes sense to substitute and preserve your star players. Giacinti was hauled off on the hour mark with Thomas following 10 minutes later.
Boquete soon added a seventh, with Adriana pulling back a consolation for Lazio. The game was rounded off with a Serena Cortesi effort that made it 8-1 to Milan.
The bigger picture
The issue for Milan is that there are some seriously good strikers elsewhere in Serie A, and they were strutting their stuff this weekend.
Sassuolo appear to have a fierce strike partnership on their hands in Lana Clelland and Sofia Cantore, the latter on loan from Juventus. Clelland didn’t manage to get on the score sheet in the 2-0 win over Sampdoria but she was excellent throughout. The first goal came from Maria Filangeri and it was Cantore who put the game beyond Sampdoria with half an hour to play.
Piece from the Enzo Ricci earlier. I was blown away by Lana Clelland and could have easily spent the whole game watching her movement alone.
She’s a dream and a nightmare. My opening paragraph makes my feelings on her performance clear enough. #SassuoloSamp #SerieAFemminile https://t.co/GUJLOuoPjz
— Conor Clancy (@ConJClancy) September 11, 2021
It’s no secret that reigning champions Juventus have goalscorers in their ranks, and Cristiana Girelli added two more to her tally during Juve’s 3-0 home win over Hellas Verona. The Bianconere also have Barbara Bonansea chipping in regularly, but it was Valentina Cernoia who added the third for Joe Montemurro’s side.
Inter also kept their 100 percent record going by winning 4-1 away from home at Empoli. They decided to spread the scoring out, with Ghoutia Karchouni, Marta Pandini, Gloria Marinelli and Tatiana Bonetti all getting on the scoresheet.
Roma made it five teams to win all three of their games so far this season, showing what a fascinating title chase we could be in for. The Giallorosse are another team who like to share the goals around and it was Benedetta Glionna and Valeria Pirone who scored this week in a 2-1 away win over Pomigliano.
Away from the top of the table, there was a surprise 1-0 win for Napoli at home to Fiorentina, who already appear to have lost touch with the front-runners.
Battles at the top
So far, those five teams that have won all three games have, obviously, not faced each other. That will change in two weeks’ time as Milan host Sassuolo and Roma travel to face Inter. This is where it will start to become clear who can really push Juventus to stop them from winning a fifth consecutive title.
Serie A Femminile results:
Napoli 1-0 Fiorentina
Juventus 3-0 Hellas Verona
Empoli 1-4 Inter
Sassuolo 2-0 Sampdoria
Pomigliano Calcio 1-2 Roma
Lazio 1-8 Milan
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