Lazio welcomed Lecce to Rome this afternoon. Few chances caused problems for either defence and the Aquile held on for a 1-0 win courtesy of Felipe Anderson.
It doesn't get much bigger then a knock-out derby in Rome and that's what the Coppa Italia gave us to start off this Wednesday double header as Mattia Zaccagni settles the Derby from the spot.
Inter and Juventus maintained the status quo on top by collecting wins, but Verona and Salernitana certainly made them sweat for it. However, the most striking event of the weekend was Napoli's appalling fall at the hands of Torino. As you would expect, the Partenopei and the Granata will dominate the entrees when we enlist the Tops and Flops from Serie A Round 19.
Sarri deployed one of his most trusted players in Matias Vecino. The Uruguayan has a habit of popping up at important moments and he did it again in Udine today.
Perhaps playing between Christmas and New Year's Eve was bound to affect the quality of play. Nevertheless, some of the results still had major implications on the table, including the battle for the Scudetto. So let's recap the action while mentioning the best and worst performers in the final act of year, with our Tops and Flops of Serie A Round 18.
Adrien Rabiot snatched the opener with a cool finish right after the interval, and it eventually proved to be the goal that separated the two sides at the final whistle. So here are our player ratings for Juventus who reduced the gap with Inter to just two points with a valuable 1-0 over Roma.
Serie A's festive Friday night- For the first time since the eighth of May 2016 the Biancocelesti would have to take to the field without stalwarts Luis Alberto, Ciro Immobile or the recently departed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in Serie A. Quite a remarkable statistic.
On this magical night when the entire globe celebrates love and peace, we have decided to refrain ourselves from selecting any flops – despite witnessing an abundance of woeful displays over the past two days. So let's honor the best performers from the final Serie A weekend before Christmas.
Victor Osimhen added insult to injury by picking up a second yellow card, leaving the Partenopei with nine men on the pitch. Romelu Lukaku scored the hosts' second goal with the final kick of the match. So here are our player ratings for Napoli who succumbed to yet another defeat, this time against Roma by two unanswered goals.
Sadly for neutral Serie A fans, the actions of Round 16 left us wondering not if this going to be a tight race Scudetto, but whether or not we're going to have a genuine race in the first place. Regardless, this matchday still left us with a flurry of captivating moments and interesting battles, so let's recap the action by identifying the Tops and Flops of the Calcio weekend.
Inter were on top of the table by one point coming into this game and their mission was to extend this lead to four points by capitalising on Juventus' 1-1 draw away to Genoa under the Friday night lights. However the Nerazzurri hadn't beaten Lazio away since 2018. That changed tonight though.
Federico Chiesa won and converted a spot kick to put the Bianconeri in the lead in the middle of the first half. However, the Grifone replied straight after the interval through Albert Gudmundsson. So here are our player ratings for Juventus who dropped two important points on the road with a 1-1 draw against Genoa.