Dramatic Juventus recovery keeps Serie A Femminile title race alive, but AS Roma aren’t slowing down

The title race in Serie A Femminile threatened to take what could have been a terminal twist over the weekend with Juventus coming very close to dropping points after AS Roma had recorded yet another convincing victory.

Had the Bianconere dropped points, the gap at the top of the table could have risen to 11 points and then the Giallorosse would be extremely close to clinching their first-ever title.

As it was, Juventus did something that we have seen them do so many times before and they mounted an impressive comeback. The drama wasn’t all at the top though, with the relegation battle changing complexion on Matchday 21.

Juventus suffer a fright against Fiorentina

There is a common feeling among those who follow Serie A Femminile that you should never get too excited when Juventus fall behind in a game, even if it’s by a lot of goals.

For those not supporting them, it is easy to forget that rule, but you then get a pretty forceful reminder. It happened again when Joe Montenurro’s side hosted Fiorentina in Juventus‘ third game of the Scudetto Pool.

A truly wonderful start to the game from Fiorentina meant that Michela Catena, Annahita Zamanian and Stephanie Breitner had put La Viola 3-0 up just before half time. In normal circumstances, given Fiorentina are staking a claim to be the third-best team in the league, that would be game over.

This is Juventus, though. Cristiana Girelli headed one back for the Bianconere right on the cusp of half time just to temper the joy for Fiorentina slightly. After the break, Juve were simply ruthless.

Arguably their player of the season, Lineth Beerensteyn, scored yet another superb goal soon into the second half which made it clear which direction the game was heading in. As she has done so often, she picked up the ball on the left, drove inside and hit a vicious shot into the near-bottom corner.

It only took another five minutes for them to get level, which is quick even by their standards. This time, a smart one-two on the edge of the box allowed Barbara Bonansea to hit a low shot which Rachele Baldi could have done better with.

Miriam Longo did fire a shot against the crossbar for Fiorentina with 13 minutes left to play, but it was only followed by Julia Grosso continuing her superb campaign by adding Juve’s fourth from distance.

Whilst it is great news for Juve that they turned the game around, with a trip to Roma coming up next, they have to be concerned about that first-half display.

AS Roma blow Inter away

The main reason why they should be so concerned is that AS Roma showed in the first half against Inter just what they can do. A truly frightening display early on saw Emilie Haavi and Benedetta Glionna grab two goals each, before Valentina Giacinti made it 5-0 on the stroke of half time in Milan.

Roma knew that they did not need to exert too much effort in the second half with the points already secured and bigger games coming up. Andressa Alves continued her superb season by netting the sixth before Tabitha Chawinga showed her quality by shrugging off Carina Wenninger and scoring from close range with 10 minutes to play.

It was a display that makes it almost impossible to think that Roma are going to drop enough points to not win the title, even if they lose twice to Juventus. The gap would be cut to five points if Juventus can beat Roma on Saturday at the Stadio Tre Fontane, but Juventus will still need Alessandro Spugna’s side to drop points in their remaining games against Fiorentina, Inter or AC Milan, before then beating Roma again on the final day.

Joy for Como, tension for Parma

Como had seemed at times like they would be certain to end up in the relegation playoff place but their form has picked up and their 3-1 win away at Pomigliano has taken them to second in the Survival Pool, four points clear of Parma who are in the playoff spot.

That gap is as wide as it is because Parma could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Sampdoria who still look as though they will be staying at the bottom of the table.

Agnese Bonfantini’s superb goal secured a point for Samp which does little for them, but also furthers Parma’s concerns about their own future. They do not play next weekend and they have picked up one point from their four games in the Survival Pool so far.

Serie A Femminile Playoff Matchday 4 results

Serie A Femminile table