Napoli's Scudetto party was postponed due to an incredible performance from Salernitana, there's an unbelievable battle in the fourth-place zone and more: here's what happened over the Serie A weekend...
MOMENT OF THE WEEK - NAPOLI vs SALERNITANA
There was great anticipation in Naples: all the Azzurri fans had gathered near the stadium, in the streets of the city, because Sunday seemed like the right day, the one chosen for Napoli's return to victory.
It all seemed written in the stars: the defeat of Lazio in the lunch match, the home game in front of a full stadium, everything perfect, but Paulo Sousa and his men had different ideas. And despite the lead signed by Matias Olivera (a header from a corner kick) the celebration was ruined at the most beautiful moment by an outstanding goal scored by Boulaye Dia, the star of Salernitana's season. Although probably the real mvp was Guillermo Ochoa, the protagonist of an incredible series of decisive saves, which prevented Victor Osimhen and his teammates from celebrating on Sunday in front of their own fans.
The disappointment for Napoli was bitter: the content will not change though, Luciano Spalletti and his men will raise the Scudetto to the sky, only the context and the day will differ. The celebration will not begin in Naples, but probably in Friuli, at the home of Udinese: the substance is that Naples and its people will explode with joy after so many years which has seemed like a lifetime. And perhaps that's true. And for that reason the joy will be even greater and, who knows, in a few years the disappointment of Sunday will be remembered with a smile on their lips, because the journey was beautiful and the destination even more so.
An entire people awaits the final whistle that will anticipate weeks and weeks of uncontrolled joy, because few things in life can give the emotions that football gives. And Napoli fans know this very well.
MATCH OF THE WEEK - ROMA vs AC MILAN
There are still six games to go until the end of the league, so in any case it would not have been a decisive match for the final standings, but Roma-Milan on Saturday afternoon could have been an important turning point for the season in the league for either the Giallorossi or the Rossoneri.
Until the 93rd minute, it was a balanced, tense match, with Jose Mourinho's team more convinced to go after the winning goal from the start. A few minutes from the end: chaos. A new game began at the Olimpico, lasting about four minutes, which started with Tammy Abraham's goal and ended with Alexis Saelemaekers' equaliser.
The beginning of the match had seen Lorenzo Pellegrini come close to scoring, with Abraham's incredible and somewhat unfortunate opposition being found in the path of a shot aimed behind Mike Maignan's back.
In the 93rd minute Zeki Celik picked up the ball in defence, sprinted forward and assisted Abraham, who after a right-footed stop scored a beautiful and important goal after a poor performance, not his first this season.
Barely enough time to celebrate the breakthrough goal for the Englishman and perhaps for Roma, Saelemaekers was found by his teammates behind an absent and distracted Leo Spinazzola: the Belgian shot from close range and Rui Patricio was far from flawless.
Points shared between the two teams and now neither of them will be able to fully devote themselves to their commitments in Europe, because there is still fourth place to conquer in the league. A season finale that promises to be complicated for Mourinho, who after losing Diego Llorente, Rick Karsdorp and Chris Smalling, also sees Andrea Belotti and Marash Kumbulla sidelined, perhaps until the end of the season. All the while waiting to recover Gini Wijnaldum and Paulo Dybala - the situation is increasingly complicated for the Special One.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - LAUTARO MARTINEZ
The most important man. Perhaps Inter's symbol, one of the most beloved by the Nerazzurri fans and the reason is always the same and it is pretty obvious: Lautaro scores a lot and they're always important goals.
Sunday's lunch match of the day seemed the last resort, a knock out tie. In case of a defeat for Simone Inzaghi's boys it would have been very complicated to move up the standings in the race for fourth place, and the match had started badly, becoming quickly an uphill battle: Lazio scored the first goal, thanks to Felipe Anderson. Lautaro started the match on the bench and a few minutes before his entrance on the pitch the fans started chanting his name, demanding his presence on the green. Eventually Inzaghi gave them their number 10.
Shortly afterwards came the first goal, the equaliser, after a splendid assist from Romelu Lukaku. Then Inter found courage thanks to its technical leader, and soon after came the goal by Robin Gosens (who came off injured). Towards the end of the game, when it was time to put the game to bed, who scored the third goal? Him, again, Lautaro Martinez. Again. Two goals, both of them decisive, which could have an incalculable specific weight for this season's finale.
Ahead of the Champions League semifinal against AC Milan, there are few doubts now for Simone Inzaghi: the attacking duo must be the famous Lu-La, the Lukaku-Lautaro pairing, that has given so many joys to the Nerazzurri fans. And maybe this is just the start...
