MATCH OF THE WEEK - FIORENTINA vs ROMA
Incredible match, incredible finale: Fiorentina and Roma shared the points and the key moments of the match.
Vincenzo Italiano's boys started in a better way, producing many scoring chances, making the most of Daniele De Rossi's questionable choice of playing with a three man defence, something that reminds us of difficult times, the ones under Jose Mourinho, but during this match he was able to fix this problem, with courage and lucidity.
Fiorentina's first goal came after several chances and it was scored by Luca Ranieri, after a corner kick. De Rossi had to sub off Gianluca Mancini, because he was booked and risked the red card in at least two different moments. Roma somehow managed to defend the 1-0 until the break, then came back on the pitch playing in a 4-3-3 and things changed.
The Giallorossi produced several goal chances and found the equaliser with Houssem Aouar. Momentum was on the Giallorossi's part, but the Viola found the leading goal in quite a lucky way: two players slipped on the pitch (Diego Llorente was fouled by Andrea Belotti, VAR didn't notice), so allowing Rolando Mandragora to score past Mile Svilar.
At a certain point things became desperate for Roma: Belotti gained a penalty and left it to his captain Cristiano Biraghi. The left-back took the spotkick, but in front of him there was Svilar, who showed in the Europa League what a great penalty saver he is.
Roma's goalkeeper saved another one: Roma was still alive! De Rossi made some subs and forcefully chose to play Lorenzo Pellegrini, who wasn't at his best after the European fatigue. At the 94' minute came the equalising goal, in the most incredible way: Pellegrini crossed with his (good) weak foot, Evan Ndicka passed the ball to Llorente who exploded an incredible shot into the top corner of the goal. One point each, but the most important thing for Roma is that the Giallorossi managed to gain one point on Bologna (who lost against Inter).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - KOOPMEINERS
After an abysmal performance against Bologna, the Dutch took his teammates by the hand and led them to an important draw against Juventus. Gian Piero Gasperini's boys took the lead thanks to a smart scheme on a free kick: Gianuca Scamacca pretended to shoot directly, he instead passed the ball to Koopmeiners just outside the box and the Dutch shot a banger for 0-1.
Juventus managed to level thanks to a well built play, ended by Andrea Cambiaso after a good assist by Weston McKennie. A few minutes after that, Arel Milik found the leading goal with a good shot and things seemed great for Juventus for a time. Yes, but only for five minutes, because once again Koopmeiners found his way through the Bianconeri's defence and had a clear shot with his left foot: generally that means "goal" and this is exactly what happened.
Atalanta is now sixth in the standings, while Juventus lose second place, now occupied by Stefano Pioli's Milan, thanks to a rather easy win against Empoli.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK - COLPANI
What a beautiful player Andrea Colpani is. The Italian trequartista is finally playing at his best level and it shows. Monza defeated Genoa 2-3 and Colpani was the MVP of the match, even if Dany Mota scored with a bicycle kick and Daniel Maldini decided the game.
Two assists and an unlucky post hit after an outstanding play on the right side of the pitch, two dribbles and a perfect shot which smacked against the upright. His performance, anyway, wasn't just all of that, but a lot more, representing a point of reference for his teammates.
When Colpani plays at this level, there are few defenders in the Italian league capable of stopping him, or just capable of reading his plays. Luciano Spalletti is probably following him with great interest for the National Team, but right now this fantastic trequartista is focused on Monza, just one point behind Lazio in the standings. It would be an unacceptable mistake to consider "normal" the level of performances shown by Monza: coach Raffaele Palladino is ready for bigger teams, with all due respect.