In an unconventional weekend split by Easter Sunday, the outcome was more of the usual. For instance, Inter are still cruising towards an imminent triumph, collecting another win at the expense of Empoli. For their part, Milan are attempting to play catchup, with a hard-fought victory in Florence confirming their revival, one that likely came slightly too late. As for Juventus, they continue to sink deeper and deeper, setting negative records with every passing week. So let’s look back on the action of the exciting weekend while enlisting the Tops and Flops from Serie A Round 30.
Top (Player): Rafael Leao
This season, Rafael Leao hasn’t always produced his best football. But when the mesmerizing version of the Milan superstar shows up, we’re talking about a different beast.
The Portuguese was simply unplayable against Fiorentina who afforded him with all the space he needed to inflict damage.
The 24-year-old was behind every dangerous Milan play, including a jaw-dropping back-heel assist for Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s opener, and a fabulous solo run that culminated with the winner.
What a player!
Flop (Players): Matteo Pessina
Sadly for Matteo Pessina, this weekend arguably witnessed his most abysmal outing in a Monza jersey. The battle between the two midtable sides was decided by two costly mistakes from the Euro 2020 winner who gifted Torino the win.
The midfielder brought down Samuele Ricci inside his own penalty box, paving the way for Antonio Sanarbia’s winner from the spot.
Afterwards, the Biancorossi went searching for an equalizer, but their attempts were hampered by another needless challenge from their captain (with Ricci being the recipient once more), thus earning himself a second yellow card.
A day to forget for the former Atalanta man.
Top (Manager): Luca Gotti
Kudos to the newly-appointed Lecce coach who managed to derail Roma’s hype train with an impressive display at the Via del Marre.
In fact, Daniele De Rossi’s men can count themselves lucky to escape with a draw, as Gotti’s side had the bulk of the chances, but just couldn’t find the back of the net in what was a relatively entertaining stalemate.
Lecce are only four points above the relegation zone, but one would back them to survive if they can produce such convincing displays recurringly.
Flop (Manager): Massimiliano Allegri
Max Allegri cemented his status as our most regular customer in this department in yet another horrific showing on a personal level which was also reflected by his team’s hallow performance.
Juventus have now extended their woeful run to a single win in nine fixtures, leaving most of us wondering how the Livorno native still has a job (it’s mostly thanks to his high wages).
This time around, Allegri heeded the fans’ call by implementing a more attacking approach, going for a 4-3-3 formation against Lazio.
However, these were only mere numbers that appeared on the screens, as the reality was strikingly different.
In the end, trying Andrea Cambiaso as an advanced winger hardly paid dividends, while the random introduction of Nikola Sekulov proved costly as evidenced by Adam Marusic’s last-minute winner.
Top (Team): Atalanta
On the opening fixture of Round 30, Atalanta ended their winless run with an empathic victory over their hosts Napoli. Perhaps, the 3-0 scoreline was slightly flattering, but the victory was undoubtedly deserved, especially on the back of a brilliant display.
Every La Dea player was on song at the Maradona Stadium, starting with Gianluca Scamacca who bullied the Partenopei defenders to create the first goal and then score the second.
Aleksei Miranchuk was decisive again with a goal and an assist, while Mario Pasalic filled in superbly for Teun Koopmeiners who made his return from injury in the second half, and still found time to forge another clinical finish.
Flop (Team): Salernitana
This is more of an unceremonious shoutout to the Salernitana management rather than the squad.
The team has underperformed this term, but having four different head coaches in a single campaign illustrates a chaotic scene on the upper-managerial level, rendering salvation an impossible task.
On Monday, Stefano Colantuono’s reign began with a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Bologna away from home, a result that highlighted the difference between a well-run club and another suffering from hectic management.
Top (Goalkeeper): Mile Svilar
After playing second-fiddle for Rui Patricio during the first half of the season, Mile Svilar has now become a protagonist for Roma.
The Serbian pulled off six saves to deny Roberto Piccoli and his Lecce teammates and thus avoid an untimely away defeat that would have halted the club’s positive momentum.
Top (Save): Mike Maignan
Although he didn’t pull off as many stops as Svilar, Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan produced an unbelievable save to deny Fiorentina striker Andrea Belotti.
Magic Mike indeed!
Top (Super-Sub): Ibrahim Sulemana
After finding themselves trailing at home, Cagliari needed a hero to avoid a defeat against fellow relegation-threatened Verona.
In the 72nd minute, Claudio Ranieri resorted to 20-year-old midfielder Ibrahim Sulemana, and the latter responded by drawing his side level with a lovely shot from the edge of the box just two minutes following his introduction.
This was a particularly hard pill to swallow for Verona, given how they gave the Ghanaian his Serie A debut last season.
Flop (Not-So-Super-Sub): Nikola Sekulov
Making your Serie A debut for an out-of-sorts Juventus side at the Stadio Olimpico was always going to be a bittersweet experience for Nikola Sekulov.
The 22-year-old is a skillful winger by trade, but the Old Lady’s current woes prevented him from seeing too much of the ball. Instead, he was obliged to track back and do the dirty work with Lazio pushing for a winner, one that exposed his defending weaknesses as he failed to properly track Marusic who nodded the ball home at the very last instance of the encounter.
The young Italian will be back at some point, but he could have done without this unpleasant maiden experience.
Top (Assist): Matheus Henrique
We mentioned Leao’s stunning assist above, which arguably deserved the recognition.
But if fortunate was on the side of the Milan star, Matheus Henrique’s through ball to Gregoire was pure excellence. The Sassuolo midfielder sliced the Udinese defense open with an impeccable assist that we just cannot overlook.
Top (Goal): Federico Bonazzoli
This weekend witnessed a flurry of great strikes, including two curlers from Bologna wingers Riccardo Orsolini and Alexis Saelemaekers who were out to outdo one another.
Yet, Federico Bonzzaoli’s glorious volley wins the day for the cheer brilliance in the execution.
The Verona striker has been out with injury for the bulk of the campaign, but his return spells great news for Marco Baroni’s side.
CHE BEL GOL DI FEDERICO BONAZZOLI!!!
CHE ASSIST DI TIJJANI NOSLIN!!!pic.twitter.com/NTNFPcP43h— Football Report (@FootballReprt) April 2, 2024
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |