It was yet another action-packed match-week within the Serie A, as it was filled with plenty of last-minute winners and dramatic sequences of events. With 30 weeks still to play within the campaign, it remains uncertain how realistic or deceptive the current standings have emerged since the start of the season. With that being said, here are our Serie A match-week 8 winners and Losers.
Winner: Andrea Sottil
Just as it seemed like Udinese’s fairy-tale start of the campaign was coming to an end as they fell behind against Verona, the Turin tactician has managed to shift the tide within the fixture in order make a comeback from behind yet again in order to seal all three points.
With around 30 minutes to go before the closing of the fixture at the Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium, the puppet master on the touchlines pulled some strings within his squad and brought on attacking pair Beto and Lazar Samardzic with the hopes of regaining their stride within the difficult fixture. As a result, his tactical adjustments paid off and made amends, following their difficult start where they fell behind 1-0 after 20 minutes of play
In the 70th minute, the rising German prospect played a sublime through ball in between the lines to find Gerard Deulofeu in the box unmarked. The Spanish attacker laid the ball of for Beto with a brilliant first touch, allowing the 24 year-old talisman to bury the ball into the back of the net.
With seconds remaining before the fixture came to a close, Samardzic delivered a fantastic cross into the box towards the second post to find Jaka Bijol, who scored a thunderous header past Lorenzo Montipo to seal all three points for Le Zebrette, extending their unbeaten run to six consecutive matches.
Loser: Simone Inzaghi
While it seemed like Allegri was the manager with the most amount of pressure regarding his future, Inzaghi managed to arguably proclaim that supposed title following his 2-1 defeat to Roma at the San Siro.
Initially, the gaffer made a questionable decision to start Samir Handanovic in-goal in the place of Andre Onana, despite the Cameroonian’s impressive run of form since arriving from Ajax this summer. As a result, his choice did not seem to pay off as the skipper made zero saves from three shots on target against the Giallorossi.
In addition, the gaffer provided proof of his poor match-management skills as tactical substitutions were only made after Chris Smalling scored to take the lead within the fixture, rather than making a change when the game was level on the scoreline in order to push for a second goal that would potentially seal a vital win.
Winner: Milinkovic-Savic
Milinkovic-Savic continues to demonstrate that he is arguably the best central midfielder within the league as the Serbian international scored a brace in Lazio’s 4-0 victory against Spezia at the Stadio Olimpico.
The 27 year-old remained cool and composed to score from point-blank range as the Biancocelesti winger Mattia Zaccagni did brilliantly to pull the ball back towards the edge of the box with a well-weighted low-driven cross.
Towards the end of the match, the central midfielder performed a stunning movement to lose his marker and to create space for the Albanian full-back Elseid Hysaj to slither a mesmerizing pass in-behind. Milinkovic-Savic strived forward with an abundance of momentum and scored a cheeky chip over Bartlomiej Dragowski to put the fixture to sleep.
As it stands, Milinkovic-Savic is leading the assist charts and is in a fine run of form with a total of three goals and five assists within the first eight games of the campaign.
Loser: Sampdoria
Just when it seemed like Sampdoria have undergone the worst, the I Blucerchiati continue to sink into rigorous waters as they were stunned to a 3-0 home defeat to newly promoted side Monza.
As a result, Sampdoria find themselves rock-bottom of the league with two points as they have not won a single match since the start of the season.
Consequently, the board was left with no other choice but to remove Mario Giampolo from his duties following the club’s terrific run of form of one tie and four losses within their last five outings.
