After difficult weeks in the league, Milan and Inter Milan return to winning ways, both of them thus relaunching their race for fourth place, taking advantage of Roma’s loss to Atalanta. Here’s what happened in Serie A…
MOMENT OF THE WEEK – RASPADORI’S GOAL AGAINST JUVENTUS
Napoli is now one step closer to winning the Italian championship and could celebrate this historic success as early as next weekend, with Lazio engaged against Inter in a very delicate match for the race for fourth place.
On Sunday night at the home of Juventus, Max Allegri’s and Luciano Spalletti’s teams faced each other, seeking redemption after the painful Champions League elimination that came against AC Milan. Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia did not play their best matches, nor did Angel Di Maria, Fede Chiesa and Arek Milik in the Bianconeri, so it was Giacomo Raspadori who took centre stage and decided the match, returning to scoring in the league after months since the last time, sending the ball beyond Wojciech Szczesny with a left-footed volley.
There was great excitement on the pitch, with Juventus angry about some refereeing choices: Juan Cuadrado asked for a penalty after (practically nonexistent) contact with Juan Jesus, but especially for the goal canceled to Di Maria, due to a foul intervention by Milik on Stanislav Lobotka. Actually, Napoli also had something to complain about over the referee’s handling on Sunday night, as incredibly a blow by Fede Gatti to Kvara’s face was not sanctioned: the referee did not see anything and VAR did not intervene, but there seemed to be every reason for a red card.
What matters, however, is that Napoli won at home to Juventus, putting the seal on the Serie A victory, reenacting the victory of a few years ago with Kalidou Koulibaly’s goal (which turned out to be useless at the end of the season), this time with the certainty of having secured a different ending.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK – TORINO DEFEAT LAZIO
Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio seemed by now to have picked up the pace for a quiet and safe run to second place in the standings, but Saturday afternoon at the Stadio Olimpico against Torino came an unexpected and painful stop.
Ivan Juric’s boys won 0-1 thanks to Ivan Ilic’s goal, with the guilty share of Provedel, who was far from flawless in his attempt to repel the former Verona player’s venomous shot. Overall, it was not a great performance by the Biancocelesti, especially since they were the only team at the top of the standings that did not have any commitments in Europe.
Torino are 11th in the standings and it seems decidedly unlikely that they will finish the season fighting for a place in Europe, so the season is turning out to be below the initial expectations of President Urbano Cairo, but his hope is that Juric has managed to build an identity and mentality that will prove crucial next season, perhaps with Torino running for a place in the Conference League.
Little work for Sergei Milinkovic-Savic or Pedro, Felipe Anderson, Mattia Zaccagni and the others, with Nemanja Radonjic and Ilic certainly starring for Torino. Important the social complaint of Yann Karamoh, who via his own social profiles reported that he was subjected to racist insults by some Lazio fans (there is one video in particular that shows a Lazio fan yelling “monkey” at him).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RAFAEL LEAO
Rafa is back to all intents and purposes the explosive player of last season and is now a problem for everyone.
Inter in the Champions League is on notice, as are all of the Rossoneri’s opponents in the race for fourth place. On Sunday afternoon Stefano Pioli and his men hosted Lecce, a team involved in the fight not to be relegated to Serie B, at home, and the MVP of the match was undoubtedly Rafael Leao. The Portuguese star scored two goals, one from a header and one after starting from the midfield line, until sending the ball into the net with a venomous left-footed shot that kissed the post.
Explosiveness, technique and precision: Leao has rediscovered all the attributes that had rightly made people think of him as a top player in past seasons, and he is doing so at the most delicate moment of the season, just when Milan will need all his talent to achieve the goals set at the beginning of the year.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK – ROMELU LUKAKU
The most important moment of the season is just around the corner, and Lukaku seems to have understood this. The Belgian striker after a season with more shadows than lights has chosen the best moment to return to make a difference.
Better and better performances, match after match, and on the championship weekend a double that allows Simone Inzaghi and his teammates to raise their heads again and get back on track for the race for fourth place.
The Nerazzurri on Sunday had to overcome the obstacle represented by Empoli, a tough and always complicated team to face, tidy and attentive, and it was not easy, although the final result might suggest otherwise. Only 7 shots on goal in total, this says a lot about the balance seen during the match, but it was Lukaku who directed the game, scoring two heavy goals.
His future in Milan is strongly in question, because he costs so much and Inter does not have that money, but if there is any chance to stay in Milan it is to give his fans a dream in the next weeks, especially in Champions League.
