📝 Matchday 5 ratings: Pulisic, Camarda shine 👑, Tudor, Napoli flop 👎 | OneFootball

The 5th matchday of Serie A has ended and brought several changes to the standings: from Milan's victory over Napoli to yet another misstep by Fiorentina, passing through another positive result for Cremonese.

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Let's take a look at the scores from 10 to 0 in our usual report card.

10) Pulisic's Performance

Christian Pulisic once again dominated the match, Saelemaekers' goal was an invention by the American, and the 2-0 goal against Napoli cements a perfect start to the season: 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 Serie A matches (plus a brace in the Coppa Italia).

Doing without him seems impossible today; could the return of Leao and the adaptation of Nkunku take his place? It seems unlikely, because Pulisic is the MVP of Serie A in these first 5 matches.

9) The goals of Pio Esposito + Camarda and... Sarri is back?

Let's hope to remember this late September 2025 weekend as the start of an era: the first Serie A goals for Pio Esposito (2005) and Francesco Camarda (2008) have opened an account that – fingers crossed – will last as long as possible.

Lazio, on the other hand, swept Genoa aside on Monday night with a 3-0 win that puts the derby defeat behind them: the entire attacking trio scored and Sarri achieved his second clean sheet of the Serie A season. The chase is long and the next match against Torino is another opportunity.

8) The courage of Pisa and Sassuolo

Pisa put Fiorentina in great difficulty, even scoring a beautiful goal with Meister (later disallowed for handball) and being denied a questionable penalty for a handball. Gilardino's team took 11 shots and risked conceding a goal but certainly did not hide: the standings are still complicated but improvements seem to be there.

Sassuolo, on the other hand, bounced back after two consecutive defeats and showed all their offensive potential, especially in the first half against Udinese. Grosso's team still has a lot to improve defensively, also because they rarely give up attacking: after all, with Berardi, Laurienté, and Pinamonti, it would be too costly a waste.

7) The confirmation of Kamaldeen

The man who can break the mold and invent a play on the wing is still there for Atalanta, even though Lookman has yet to return to the pitch. Because Kamaldeen Sulemana has shown why he cost about 20 million. The (beautiful) goal against Juve, in addition to the one against Lecce, are clear signals to Serie A: Kamaldeen is here.

6) Gasp's rotations

The players change, even in an attempt to recover the "thorny cases," and Gasp's Roma gets another win that puts them at the top of Serie A. Dovbyk's goal will be crucial to recover an important player, and yet another clean sheet reminds us of Svilar's abilities, while the defensive performance still needs work: if Gift Orban had converted a huge chance, the end of the game would have been different.

5) The red cards for Como

On a day when Cremonese (score 8) also held Como to a 1-1 draw, Como's red cards were unacceptable. The slap and retaliatory kick by Jesus Rodriguez at a delicate moment of the match were naive – to put it mildly – and compromised the match for the Larians. Fabregas' behavior at the end of the game was also not perfect: sent off for saying a few too many words to Di Bello.

4) Tudor's choices

In attack, Tudor rewarded Adzic by giving him a starting spot but, aside from a few flashes, he was the one who lost the ball that triggered Atalanta's goal. Individual errors aside, after the first 30 minutes Juve struggled to be dangerous, coming back to life only after De Roon's red card.

Openda did not give the expected answers as a center forward, nor did Vlahovic when he started, with David now on the bench. Yildiz now seems to be an increasingly indispensable factor: is Juve becoming "dependent" on his bursts?

3) Udinese's instability

After a great start, Udinese have suffered two consecutive defeats, conceding 3 goals both against Milan and Sassuolo: far too many considering Runjaic's defensive roster. The offensive sterility in the first half is worrying, and the goal came mainly thanks to a mistake by Muric.

They need to recover Buksa, Bayo, and wait for Iker Bravo to return from the U20 World Cup.

2) Fiorentina's style of play

Pioli's Fiorentina is still searching for its identity: for the third match in a row, the strike partner alongside Kean has changed (Dzeko, then Piccoli, and now Gudmundsson in the last three). Kean himself was imprecise and remained goalless despite 5 attempts, getting frustrated at the end and even picking up a yellow card.

Fiorentina needs to shift gears because 3 points in 5 matches are too few: there is still time to find the right formula but the Viola fans are already starting to grumble.

1) The championship of Torino and Genoa

After the win against Pisa, Baroni's Torino disappointed again in the 2-1 loss to Parma. As has happened before, the Granata shoot several times on goal but then concede at the back: 10 goals conceded in 5 matches and only 2 scored. In total, however, the shots they allowed were "only" 2, namely the penalty and Pellegrino's header. The attack remains imprecise; Vlasic and his teammates need to produce more.

Terrible start also for Genoa, who are second to last with 2 points: the 3-0 against Lazio was the worst performance of the season in terms of approach, despite the Grifone trying to come back with several shots at the end of both halves.

0) Napoli's start and KDB's little scene

Napoli started terribly against Milan: 2 goals conceded in 31 minutes and 6 shots allowed, 3 of them on target. Milan's tactics exposed Napoli's forced exits to free up men in the attacking third and on the flanks: an idea that worked on the counter, because Milan's block remains and will tend to stay deep. However, Conte couldn't break it down.

In the second half, the substitutions were not appreciated by part of the crowd and especially by Kevin De Bruyne, who was very upset about being substituted at a key moment in the match. Frustration or protest against Conte's decision? We know that KDB has no problem speaking his mind to coaches, and Guardiola knows it well.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 Jonathan Moscrop - 2025 Jonathan Moscrop