From Friday to Sunday, we were treated to three evenings of top Serie A clashes. However, the outcomes were drastically different. While Inter pummeled Atalanta by four unanswered goals at San Siro, Lazio and Milan shared the spoils in an entertaining back-and-forth affair at the Olimpico. But the biggest letdown of the weekend was the Allianz Stadium encounter between Juventus and Roma which promised so much, but delivered very little. So let’s recap all these events and more while picking out the Tops and Flops from Serie A Round 3.
Top (Player): Marcus Thuram
If last season was Lautaro Martinez’s year, this might just be Marcus Thuram’s time to hug the limelight. The Frenchman is cementing himself as the early primary candidate to win the Capacannoniere Award by bagging yet another brace.
After starting his career as a winger, he is slowly but surely morphing into a deadly bomber, one capable of producing scorchers, while also tucking in the simple ones.
Thuram was simply unstoppable against Atalanta, leading his team to victory with two goals while also stimulating Berat Djimsiti’s own goal.
Flop (Player): Berat Djimsiti
Speaking of the devil, the Albanian had a torrid evening at San Siro. Aside from beating his own goalkeeper, he just couldn’t cope with Thuram’s movement.
Gian Piero Gasperini will certainly rely on Isak Hien as his main option in the central defender role moving forward.
Top (Coach): Paolo Vanoli
Despite a lousy transfer market that prompted an open revolt from the Ultras against club president Urbano Cairo, Torino currently sit on top of the table alongside Inter, Juventus and Udinese with seven points.
What’s more? They could have been the sole leaders had they avoided a late collapse against Milan at San Siro in the opening round.
Therefore, it’s time to applaud Paolo Vanoli, who might not be the most prominent name in coaching, but his fabulous work is there for all to see.
The 52-year-old orchestrated Venezia’s promotion to Serie A last term, but this weekend, he managed to inflict misery upon his return to the iconic Venetian city to keep the Granata on track with the big boys.
Also a shoutout to Saul Coco whose late header sealed a 1-0 victory for the high-flying visitors.
Flop (Coach): Fabio Pecchia
First of all, we must begin by stating that Parma has been one of the most impressive underdogs in Serie A thus far this season, and most of the credit must go to Fabio Pecchia who implemented a brilliant tactical system built on smart, technical and energetic youngsters.
However, why on earth would use your five substitutions at the 73rd minute while you’re leading against Napoli at the Maradona?!
The Italian tactician insisted that this is a strategy he had always fashioned, but this time, this maneuver proved incredibly costly, as it forced Enrico Di Prato – a defender – to stand in goal when Zion Suzuki got himself foolishly sent off.
From then on, the writing was on the wall, as the hapless stand-in “goalkeeper” was never going to repel a late Napoli comeback.
Top (Team): Inter
For those who were quick to jump the gun and write off the reigning champions after one not-so-convincing display on the opening day of the season, the answer arrived rather swiftly.
Inter are now gaining steam with every fresh outing, and have produced a terrifying display against their Lombardian neighbors Atalanta. We mentioned Thuram’s exploits above, but the entire team deserves the plaudits, including the likes of Nicolò Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu and Benjamin Pavard.
If there was any doubt about their status as the ultimate favorites to lift the title, this should dispel it.
Flop (Team): Atalanta
Yes, Inter were certainly operating at an incredibly high level on Friday, but Atalanta’s bemused approach made life much easier for Simone Inzaghi’s men. After conceding twice early on, it felt that the team resigned to defeat.
La Dea certainly had a complicated summer between tough circumstances and questionable decisions on the market, but their faithful will be hoping that Gasperini can find the right recipe soon enough and forge yet another devastating edition of the team before they lag too much behind in the standings.
Top (Goalkeeper): Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
For the second week in a row, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic is our top goalkeeper of the round. The Serbian surely earned his clean sheet against Venezia, producing two top-notch saves to deny former Juventus man Hans Nicolussi Caviglia who would have loved to mark his club debut with a goal against Torino.
Flop (Goalkeeper): Zion Suzuki
In the current day and age, it’s hard to figure out the reasoning behind some goalkeepers’ insistence on wasting time, even when the referees ensure that these seconds will be counted as added time.
So after picking up a yellow card for wasting time at a relatively early stage of the match, Suzuki gave the referee no other option but to show him the red card for basically karate-kicking David Neres on a clumsy outrush, which left Parma with a man down and an outfielder in goal with more than 20 minutes on the clock, allowing Napoli to pull off a late comeback.
Top (Match): Napoli vs Parma
This one had some many plots and sub-plots, so we don’t even know where to start. Parma appeared to be on the right track to pull off a major upset at the Maradona. They took the lead through an early spot-kick and then struck the post on a couple of occasions.
But as we mentioned above, Suzuki’s major blunder left the Crociati with a numerical disadvantage, while Del Prato had to stand in goal, but didn’t have the capacity to pull off saves.
Therefore, Romelu Lukaku stole the headlines on his Napoli debut with a pivotal equalizer in added time, while Zambo Anguissa forged the winner to put an ear-to-ear smile on Antonio Conte’s face.
You couldn’t write this stuff.
Flop (Match): Juventus vs Roma
On the contrary, Juventus and Roma left both sets of fans as well as neutrals disappointed following a cagey stalemate.
The Bianconeri’s previous victories under Thiago Motta opened up the supporters’ appetite for goals and glorious football, while the Giallorossi faithful were seeking a reaction following two poor results.
But in the end, the two sides combined hardly created anything noteworthy throughout what was a well and truly forgettable affair.
Top (Debut): Nuno Tavares
Lazio’s early-season form has been raising great concern among supporters who fear the squad has been vastly weakened compared to previous seasons.
Nevertheless, the Biancocelesti can rest assured that they have at least improved one position in the team, and that is the left-back spot.
On Saturday night, Nuno Tavares had a stunning debut against Milan. The Portuguese twice darted the wings, beat his opposite number and put a teammate through with a precise square ball. The 24-year-old almost single-handedly dragged the Biancocelesti back to the match, but the Rossoneri still managed to pull off an equalizer…
Top (Super-Subs): Theo Hernandez, Rafael Leao & Tammy Abraham
While Paulo Fonseca insisted on making a statement by casting out Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao from the starting formation, he had no choice but to resort to their services with Milan trailing in the score.
The two stars immediately responded by creating the equalizer with Tammy Abraham providing the assist while making his debut on a turf he knows one or two things about.
Top (Goal): Nicolò Barella
While the first two rounds didn’t truly bear a genuine Golazzo, Barella’s jaw-dropping volley certainly made up for it.
What a strike! What a player!
Barella's banger 🚀💫#InterAtalanta pic.twitter.com/OSy8IbR3k7
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) August 31, 2024
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |