Serie A Femminile came to a fittingly dramatic conclusion at the weekend as Pomigliano beat Napoli to secure their place in the top flight for another season.
All but the final relegation place had been settled ahead of the final day of the season meaning all eyes on were on the match in Campania between Pomigliano and Napoli.
Pomigliano’s solid form in the middle of the campaign meant that they were not really viewed as being part of the relegation scrap.
An end-of-season dip, though, meant that they went into the match against Napoli having to get a point to make sure their first season in Serie A did not end in an immediate relegation.
Napoli were in this exact position last season and managed to stay up at the expense of San Marino Academy.
That experience showed in the first half as Lana Golob managed to score in a busy penalty area following a corner to give the Azzurri a 1-0 lead.
The second half was a very different affair. A swift move saw Tori Dellaperuta latch onto a flick from Marija Banusic and put an excellent finish past the Napoli goalkeeper.
A terrible defensive error just four minutes put Pomigliano on the front foot and the ball worked its way to Banusic who rounded the goalkeeper and put her team 2-1 ahead.
The Swede was not done yet though as five minutes later she latched onto yet another outside of the foot pass from Dellaperuta as she had done for the second goal.
Banusic turned the defender inside out and placed an excellent shot into the far corner from the edge of the box. In the space of nine minutes, Pomigliano had given Napoli a mountain to climb, one they never really looked like scaling.
??? L’esplosione di gioia delle pantere. Il @PomiglianoWomen resta in #SerieAFemminile @TIM_vision! ??? pic.twitter.com/HwOtHoqEsF
— FIGC Calcio Femminile (@FIGCfemminile) May 14, 2022
The celebrations at full time showed just how much it means to Pomigliano to stay in the division, especially given it will be turning professional next season.
The result means that Napoli will be joining Lazio and Hellas Verona in Serie B next season.
Juve, Roma & Sassuolo all end on wins
Three of the four teams at the top of the table ended their seasons with a victory. The only one that failed to win was AC Milan as they were beaten 2-1 by champions Juventus.
The Bianconere were 2-0 up by the 51st minute after Annahita Zamanian and Sofie Junge had netted. Celeste Boureille pulled a goal back in stoppage time but both teams already knew their final league position by the time the game came around.
Roma continued their incredible end to the season by cruising past Lazio in what will be the final women’s Derby della Capitale of the season. The Giallorosse won 3-0 with goals from Milica Mijatovic, Valeria Pirone and Sophie Haug.
?? Roman Haug ensures the derby is all Roma! ??
#ASRomaWomen #ASRoma pic.twitter.com/CGVL49x1oI— AS Roma Women ?? (@ASRomaWomen) May 16, 2022
As for Sassuolo, they rounded off their campaign with a 2-1 win at home to Inter, goals courtesy of Mana Mihashi and Haley Bugeja.
Further down the table, Sampdoria beat Hellas Verona 3-1 to end their first season in the top flight whilst Fiorentina celebrated safety by putting six past Empoli in a 6-0 win.
Serie A Femminile Round 22 results:
Lazio 0-3 Roma
AC Milan 1-2 Juventus
Napoli 1-3 Pomigliano
Fiorentina 6-0 Empoli
Sampdoria 3-1 Hellas Verona
Sassuolo 2-1 Inter
