This past Serie A weekend was one of the most anticipated in some time as first and second in the standings, Inter Milan and Juventus, faced off. There was also more disappointment for Lazio – and more joy for Frosinone. Here’s what happened over the latest Serie A round:
MATCH OF THE WEEK – JUVENTUS vs INTER MILAN
It was the most anticipated match, even if as expected it was certainly not the most spectacular one, but the game between the Bianconeri and the Nerazzurri was intense, charged with antagonism and full of talent.
It ended 1-1, neither side apparently tried to win at all costs, perhaps because at this moment, with so many games still to be played, it is better not to get hurt and stay there, fighting one point at time.
Max Allegri’s Juventus took the lead: an assist from Fede Chiesa for Dusan Vlahovic, who scored with his right foot, eager to regain his starting spot after sitting on the bench several times in preference to Moise Kean.
Juventus’ goal came in the 27th minute and only six minutes later came Inter’s equaliser, signed as usual by Lautaro Martinez. The Argentine converted a perfect assist from his attacking partner Marcus Thuram into a goal, punishing Juventus on a perfect counterattack. In the second half, the two teams played with the handbrake on and the direct consequence was a draw, welcomed by both coaches.
There is plenty of time to fight for the Scudetto.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – PAULO DYBALA
There was exaltation after the goal, similar to Jude Bellingham’s and then with the finger gesture in front of his mouth, to “hush” the controversy that came from Argentina and to remind everyone that his star will shine for a very long time to come.
Paulo Dybala’s performance had not been perfect up until that point, especially since a ball lost by him led to Udinese’s equaliser. From his feet, however, came the 2-1 strike for Roma, which then won 3-1 against Lele Cioffi’s Udinese. A beautiful maneuver by the Giallorossi, which registered 12 consecutive passes (Jose Mourinho’s team doesn’t play so bad, apparently…), culminated in the Azmoun-Lukaku-Dybala triangle, with La Joya capturing the ball and heading in for a 1 vs 1 against Marco Silvestri: from there Dybala could hardly miss and in fact the ball went into the net.
“Shut up everyone,” Dybala seems to have said with that gesture. After a few games not at his best, the Argentinian returned to scoring and Mourinho could again enjoy one of his stars. The Giallorossi’s ranking, now in fifth place, also looks sweeter and more encouraging.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK – SALERNITANA DEFEAT LAZIO
Lazio lost again, this time against the last team in the standings, Filippo Inzaghi’s Salernitana. This is not a bolt out of the blue, because Lazio has often been mediocre this year, in results first and foremost, but also in their performances.
The Biancocelesti have nothing of what a Maruizio Sarri team should have, so it is probably correct to question whether it is right to continue with the former Chelsea and Juventus coach or not. The players say they still trust him, however, neither results nor performance are coming.
On Saturday against Salernitana, the Biancocelesti had even taken the lead, thanks to Ciro Immobile’s penalty kick. Then Salernitana’s comeback began, culminating in the incredible goal scored by Antonio Candreva, a former Biancoceleste player, that brought Sarri and his team to its knees, now further behind in the standings in the fight for a place in Europe next year.
The road for Filippo Inzaghi’s team is a very long one, avoiding relegation after such a complicated start will be difficult and a completely different path will be needed, but surely these three points earned against a big team like Lazio give morale and confidence.
TEAM OF THE WEEK – FROSINONE
Eusebio Di Francesco’s Frosinone continues to impress. Match after match, opponent after opponent, the Ciociari can dream. And they are doing well, since Matias Soulé and the other Frosinone players are really experiencing an amazing start to the season.
They have 18 points in the standings, one more than Lazio, three less than Roma, and two less than Atalanta and Fiorentina. In short, all this is to say that the Ciociari are doing something unthinkable before the start of the championship.
Soulé and Ilario Monterisi (his goal came almost in the last minute) canceled out the great goal scored by Genoa’s Ruslan Malinovskyi, making all Frosinone fans explode with joy.
Great credit obviously goes to Eusebio Di Francesco, but one should not underestimate the importance and quality of the work of Guido Angelozzi, the sporting director of Frosinone, who was able to build a young and excellent team while spending very little money, picking up on-loan young and talented players from Juventus and other teams.
