MATCH OF THE WEEK - NAPOLI v ROMA
The most entertaining match of the weekend was undoubtedly that between Francesco Calzona's Napoli and Daniele De Rossi's Roma, a match that ended 2-2 with the Giallorossi's equalising goal scored in the final minutes.
So many goal chances for the hosts, to which Mile Svilar said "no" so many times, performing actual miracles on several occasions, saving his teammates with sensational saves. Roma with him have found a real treasure.
In the second half, however, it was the Giallorossi who took the lead: Paulo Dybala scored from a penalty kick (earned by Sardar Azmoun), with a shot that was virtually impossible for Alex Meret to save. Shortly afterwards, Napoli managed to find a very fortunate goal: Mathias Olivera, the left full-back, tried to shoot from outside the box, Rasmus Kristensen tried to block the shot, and the ball skyrocketed behind Svilar.
Toward the end two unexpected events changed the match: first Renato Sanches' foul on Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, something completely unnecessary, which resulted in a penalty kick perfectly struck by Victor Osimhen. The match seemed to be over when a few minutes from the final whistle Tammy Abraham sent a header into the net after an assist from Evan Ndicka, who returned to the field after the problem suffered during the match against Udinese. The English striker had not scored in exactly a year: he could not have picked a better time.
TEAM OF THE WEEK- FIORENTINA
Sassuolo right now is an extremely struggling team, not even Davide Ballardini has managed to reverse the negative trend. The Neroverdi are sinking deeper and deeper into an endless crisis.
In Sunday night's match, Fiorentina dominated far and wide and won 5-1, a show of strength to which Sassuolo was forced to surrender. Riccardo Sottil, Lucas Martinez Quarta, twice Nico Gonzalez and Antonin Barak signed a resounding result. Useless was the goal scored by the Neroverdi's young talent Kristian Thorstvedt: at this moment Sassuolo does not look like a team. Since Domenico Berardi's injury the team's confidence has plummeted and there has been practically no reaction.
The standings are getting more and more desperate, but on the other side there was a team that opened the week leading to another European semi final in the best possible way. On Thursday, Fiorentina has a great chance to take a step towards the Conference League final, and coming into this delicate match with a 5-1 victory is certainly the best way to do it.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK - BOLOGNA v UDINESE
Thiago Motta would seem to be one step away from Juventus, which is now determined to say goodbye to Max Allegri and to entrust the keys of the project to the former midfielder of the Italian national team - the true architect of the Bologna masterpiece.
But not only that, there are many rumours about possible farewells for Riccardo Calafiori and Josh Zirkzee, two of Bologna's most important stars. But although at the end of the year many will say goodbye, it is not yet time to celebrate. The team coached by Motta has yet to achieve Champions League qualification, an obviously gigantic and unexpected achievement, but one that at this point cannot and must not escape.
On Sunday, however, came an unexpected misstep at home against Udinese, a team at great risk of relegation to Serie B. Even the team coached by Fabio Cannavaro had taken the lead during the first half, frightening Bologna, which at one point was even down to 10 men. With some luck came the equalising goal for the hosts, scored from a free kick (quite randomly) by Alexis Saelemaekers, who is probably playing the best season of his career.
Maduka Okoye made a serious error and was overtaken by the trajectory of the ball, thus giving Bologna the equalising goal. In the final seconds of the match Udinese came close to scoring a winner, with Keinan Davis hitting the post. At the end of the match, quite unexpectedly, the team that most to complain was Udinese. Definitely a surprise!