After ten rounds of Serie A, not a single striker has managed to maintain a decent goal-scoring average — and that explains why goals are so hard to come by, as shown once again in the big match between Milan and Roma.
It was a night of spectacle, emotion, and intensity at San Siro, but only one goal — scored by a defender. That’s not just the story of a single game, but the symbol of a league struggling to take off, especially when it comes to finding the back of the net.
The Italian weekend ended with a now-familiar trend: very few goals. Just 16 scored overall, pending Monday’s fixtures (Sassuolo–Genoa and Lazio–Cagliari).
Needless to say, the numbers were far higher in the other top European leagues — with the lone exception of Ligue 1, where surprisingly, even fewer goals were scored than in Italy this weekend.
What elsewhere might be an anomaly has, in Italy, become the rule. The main culprits? The strikers — increasingly lifeless, ineffective, and invisible. Just look at the scoring chart: the current top scorer is Calhanoglu — a midfielder — with 5 goals. The most prolific strikers are Simeone (Torino), Bonazzoli (Cremonese), and Castro (Bologna), all tied at 4.
And what about the big clubs’ forwards? Napoli are paying the price for Lukaku’s injury — though even at full health, the Belgian hasn’t been a guaranteed 20-goal striker for a while. Inter, meanwhile, are missing Thuram, and it’s fair to assume that with both fit, the goal charts might look very different. But football isn’t built on hypotheticals — it’s about who’s actually on the pitch and performing.
At Napoli, Højlund has faded after a promising start, while Lucca never really ignited. You have to wonder what sense it made to let Cholito Simeone go and overpay for a former Udinese striker far less effective and less suited to Conte’s system.
At Juventus, Vlahović also started strong before slipping back into his familiar struggles from the past two seasons. We’ll see whether Spalletti’s arrival can spark something — though his debut saw Jonathan David, once a goal-per-game machine in Ligue 1, left on the bench and looking like a mystery in Serie A.
At Inter, Lautaro Martínez seems to have lost his scoring touch — like the basketball stars in Space Jam who lost their talent. It’s not the first time the Argentine has gone through a dry spell, and Chivu can only hope he snaps out of it soon. Playing next to Bonny instead of Thuram, though, is a very different story.
And then there’s Milan vs Roma, last night’s headline clash that perfectly captured the league’s current theme: plenty of quality, little finishing. Both coaches benched their main strikers — Gimenez out injured, Dovbyk starting on the bench — opting for mirrored 3-5-2 formations with two attacking midfielders operating between the lines.
Roma’s start was brilliant: six chances in the opening half hour, San Siro briefly mesmerized by Gasperini’s high-intensity approach. But in football, dominance, possession, and pressing mean nothing if you don’t score.
Roma’s first half bordered on spectacular — in personality, tempo, and creativity — but try telling that to their fans, who saw their team go into halftime down 1–0 (and it could’ve been 2–0 if Fofana hadn’t missed a sitter).
Once again, Roma failed to score — no surprise, given they have the weakest attack among Serie A’s top ten. As the saying goes, “If Sparta weeps, Athens doesn’t laugh”: Roma’s finishing woes mirror Milan’s own struggles up front. The Rossoneri got their three points thanks to a goal from defender Pavlovic, but their offensive issues remain glaring.
Gimenez, sidelined against Roma, has scored as many goals injured as he did healthy: zero. Leão is unmarkable, especially in a game like this, but he’s not a pure finisher. Saelemaekers, full of energy (and extra motivation facing his former teammates), danced around plenty but, as usual, lacked end product. Pulisic, meanwhile, is exactly what Milan are missing — a rare mix of skill and substance. Allegri can’t wait to have him fully fit. Without European distractions and with a solid squad, Milan’s Scudetto ambitions are back on track after this win.
For Roma, there’s pride in their performance but frustration over another missed opportunity — capped by Dybala’s first-ever missed penalty in a Roma shirt, just ten minutes from time. And if the rain hadn’t been enough, Roma’s night turned from bad to worse when Dybala injured himself taking that very penalty in the 82nd minute. From the chance to make it 1–1 to losing their best player — from the stars to the mud, in one cruel instant.
L’articolo Serie A dull up front: Milan beat Roma, Napoli stand alone on top proviene da Soccer Made In Italy.
