At almost the pace of one match a day, Serie A continues. There were upsets, such as the home defeat of Juventus against Sassuolo, and there was no lack of controversy, which these days directly concerns the Italian referees, never so discussed as in the last few days. Let's see what happened in the latest week of Serie A:
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - DAVIDE FRATTESI (SASSUOLO)
A second consecutive goal for the young Roman midfielder, in the previous weekend against Venezia, but this week instead the match against Juventus, won 1-2 by the Neroverdi coached by Alessio Dionisi. A very heavy defeat for Max Allegri's team, who lost at home at the very moment when they seemed to have found the key to solving all their problems. The first goal of the match had been scored by Frattesi, another great move in the area and another goal in Serie A. Juventus found an equaliser with Weston McKennie, but in the 95th minute the Neroverdi found the winning goal with the long ball by Domenico Berardi for Maxime Lopez, who passed the Juventus goalkeeper with a lob.
Frattesi continues on his path of growth. A Sassuolo starter, an important player for the U-21 of Italy, probably ready to make the leap to a great team of the Italian league, without any doubt. Defensive skills, yes, but also great ability to find the goal make him the prototype of the perfect midfielder for an attacking and dynamic team.
MATCH OF THE WEEK - ROMA VS CAGLIARI
José Mourinho's Roma are back to winning ways, after an excellent performance in the draw with Napoli.
The Giallorossi won against Walter Mazzarri's Cagliari with the result of 2-1, in a comeback after falling behind due to a lucky but deserved goal from Leonardo Pavoletti. Mourinho's men flirted with the equaliser several times before Roger Ibanez found the net with a fine header from a corner. The winning goal was scored by Lorenzo Pellegrini, as usual. The Giallorossi captain scored a wonderful free-kick, putting the ball where Alessio Cragno couldn't reach.
Mourinho was in the stands, due to the red card received during the match against Luciano Spalletti's Napoli, but he never gave up on his boys with constant screams from his seat and constant advice to his assistant coach, Joao Sacramento.
Mourinho's decision in Wednesday's victory was decisive. After the Cagliari goal, the Portuguese coach decided to replace Matias Vina with Felix Afena Gyan, a young striker of the club's Academy, just 18 years old, also deciding to change to a system with two strikers. After that change, even if not directly because of that, Roma overturned the game and found the three points: and fourth place in the standings.
TALKING POINT OF THE WEEK - ITALIAN REFEREES
It is not an easy time for the Italian referees. After the controversy between Juventus-Roma and Inter-Juventus, other mistakes by Serie A referees and other controversies by coaches and players arrived in the last round of the championship.
This time it was the turn of Empoli-Inter, for example, with Aurelio Andreazzoli complaining a lot about refereeing at the end of the match, due to a penalty not given to his boys. Since the beginning of the season, the controversy has followed one match after another, so much so it's been decided that Italian football will introduce online explanations of the choices of the VAR, something new and unprecedented for Italian football. Never before has the Italian championship seemed as open and hard-fought as this year, which is why every single mistake of the referees can really change the course of events and the fate of the championship. This is another reason why the atmosphere is hot and the red cards for the coaches are coming one after another: on the last day of Serie A, Spalletti, Mourinho, Simone Inzaghi and Gian Piero Gasperini were not present on the bench for this reason.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - DUVAN ZAPATA (ATALANTA)
The Colombian striker continues to lead Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta. Against Sampdoria things got bad for Josep Ilicic and his teammates: the team coached by Roberto D'Aversa had taken the lead after only 10 minutes, thanks to the goal of Ciccio Caputo.
But it was Zapata who saved his teammates, eventually scoring a brace. First he caused Kristoffer Askildsen's own goal, then he scored the goal of the advantage showing all the qualities that make him an always dangerous striker.
At the end of the game Ilicic scored an amazing goal, closing the match with the score of 1-3, but it was without any doubt Zapata who turned the situation around. To cheer the Colombian flexed his muscles, to show that he is the man of providence for Gasperini's team. Atalanta isn't fourth in the standings, but with Zapata in this form the next fixtures seem a little less frightening. In this season Zapata has already scored 5 goals and collected 3 assists.