Two draws for two teams at the top of the standings, Roma and Inter to be more specific, the excellent performance offered by Lecce against the Giallorossi, the return to victory of Stefano Pioli's AC Milan... and the triumphal, unstoppable march of Napoli . Here's what happened over the past Serie A weekend...
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK - SAMPDORIA STOP INTER
This was probably the most surprising result of the entire Serie A weekend. Sampdoria is experiencing a season that seems to all intents and purposes cursed, the team has often played good games, however leaving points on the pitch.
On Monday, Dejan Stankovic's team met Simone Inzaghi's Inter, which had the excellent opportunity to escape from Roma and extend the advantage for second place, but that was not the case: in Genova the match ended 0-0 and it was the Blucerchiati who made the better impression.
A bad misstep for Inter, which never needed the three points more than in Monday's match, but in any case the excellent performance from Sampdoria by Stankovic should be underlined, precisely against the team of which he became a legend.
Michael Cuisance has given a positive turn to the Blucerchiati's season, confirming himself as an excellent player also at Serie A level. The strikers' goals are missing, but the team has resumed playing with heart and determination, and regardless of how the season ends for the fans it's always a nice thing to see.
You can win and you can lose, but the shirt must always be honoured and with it the love of the fans.
TEAM OF THE WEEK - LECCE
After beating Lazio and Atalanta at home and stopping Milan, Marco Baroni's Lecce also stopped José Mourinho's Roma. On Saturday afternoon, the Giallorossi were looking for yet another victory away from home to chase second-placed Inter and to take advantage of the match between Lazio and Atalanta, but they found a combative Lecce in their way.
Federico Baschirotto scored with a header from a corner kick, the goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone (a declared Roma fan) prevented Stephan El Shaarawy and Tammy Abraham from scoring more than once, surrendering only to the perfect penalty struck by Paulo Dybala.
Lecce played a defensive, orderly game, aggressively, proving once again that they are a perfectly organised team for the top Italian championship. In addition to Baschirotto, the real stars of the team are the midfielder Morten Hjulmand and the key to the attacking phase Gabriel Strefezza, two signings who have also achieved excellent results in Serie A. Baroni in any case is doing a great job.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK- HOJLUND
It may be too early to define him as the rising star of Danish football, but Rasmus Hojlund is really impressing this season in Serie A. The video of his run against Lazio, in the 2-0 victory for Gian Piero Gasperini's team, has already become viral. A rocket that passed through the opponents until it arrived in front of the goalkeeper (even if then he missed the shot). In any case, a few minutes later, the Dane still managed to score a goal, with an "easy" tap-in.
His sense of goal, his insight and his killer instinct in the opposing area are amazing. Born in Copenhagen in 2003, he first showed off with the Sturm Graz shirt, now with Atalanta's one, which as usual manages to spot earlier than many other Italian teams young European talent. He is literally overshadowing Luis Muriel and Duvan Zapata.
Yet another great signing of Atalanta, already 6 goals in Italy. Not bad for a 20-year-old having just arrived…
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - KVARATSKHELIA AND GIROUD
By now the Georgian no longer surprises. In Serie A alone, he has scored 9 goals and 9 assists in 18 games, an incredible tally, considering his young age and the fact that this is his first season in Italy. He is undoubtedly the star of the team, despite Luciano Spalletti having many strong players and having an almost perfect season (as shown by the points in the standings) and also Victor Osimhen's incredible season (17 goals in 18 league games).
Kvaratskhelia scored again on Sunday, to no one's surprise, but other than that he helped his team triumph once again. If Napoli win the Scudetto it will be largely thanks to him. Napoli's owner has already said that he has no intention of selling either him or his goalscoring twin Osimhen, but the big Europeans teams could go as far as offering a lot of money to buy him during the summer. And they would do well, given the talent shown.
On the other hand, Olivier Giroud returned to scoring with the Milan shirt. The Rossoneri have (finally) won a game after four consecutive defeats and the one against Torino bears the name of the French forward, who in a difficult and tiring match for his team managed to find the opening and winning goal in the 62nd minute.
An important goal for an even more important victory, given that thanks to the regained three points, the standings smile again on Stefano Pioli, who however pushes his team to do much better, because the excuses are over after a difficult period of crisis crossed by his Milan. Now he has changed his playing system and moved on to a three-man defence to give the team more balance, but only time will tell if this was the right medicine.
