Serie A match-week 7 was quite a theatrical spectacle as we witnessed some enticing and captivating fixtures throughout the past three days. From Monza claiming their first ever Serie A win within their club’s history against Juventus, to Udinese finding themselves within a Champions League spot after thrashing Inter, this match-week has proven that this year’s campaign is shaping out to be one that will be filled with many surprises and that will go down the wire until the very last fixtures. Without further ado, here is our Tops and Flops for match-week 7 within the Serie A.
Top (Player) Ciro Immobile
Despite being towards the back-end of his career, Ciro Immobile continuously proves that he is a goal-scoring force not to be reckoned with within the top-flight Italian league.
The 34 year-old talisman has extended his exceptional run of form to five goals and two assists in seven appearances within Lazio’s 4-0 victory against Cremonese , scoring a brace within the first twenty minutes in order to give the Biancocelesti a significant advantage early within the match.
The skipper demonstrated his impeccable ability to find the back of the net as he used an exceptional first touch to beat his marker on the run, following Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s exquisite pass in-between the lines of defence, and opened up his foot to find the top-left corner past Ionut Radu to break the ice at the Giovanni Zini Stadium.
In addition, the Italian international bagged a second from the penalty spot after a sloppy handball within the box as he tucked the ball into the low-right corner such with composure and ease to double Sarri’s side’s advantage.
Flop (Team) Juventus
Just as it seems that Juventus have already hit rock-bottom, the abyss filled with darkness and with barely any rays of hope in-sight continues to get exponentially deeper for the Bianconeri to escape.
A lack of emotional control has led to Angel Di Maria receiving a straight red card as he viciously elbowed his marker in the chest just before the end of the first half. As a result, Allegri’s side were completely disjointed defensively as their positioning was extremely off the mark and there was barely any pressure being applied when off-the ball, which enabled Monza to easily create chances against the Serie A giants.
After numerous occasions, Palladino’s men have at-last broke the deadlock in the 70th minute as Pattick Ciurria delivered a brilliant cross in-behind the defence to Christian Gytkjaer, who cushioned the ball past Mattia Perin to seal all three points against the Old Lady.
As it stands, Juventus currently sit in tenth place with a total of ten points as they have failed to win a single match across all competitions since their 2-0 victory over Spezia on August 31st.
Top (Team) Napoli
Despite losing a handful of key players during the transfer window, Napoli have proven to be major title competitors as they managed to hand the defending champions Milan their first lost this season in a 2-1 victory at the San Siro.
It was Matteo Politano who found the opener from the spot following a poorly timed challenge from the American full-back Sergino Dest, as he failed to cope with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s remarkable speed and technical ability along the flanks.
Despite Olivier Giroud scoring the equalizer, Napoli remained cool and collective as they managed to snatch a game-winner with under ten minutes remaining as Mario Rui delivered a well-placed cross to find Giovanni Simeone, who headed the ball in fine fashion past Mike Mignan.
With Spalletti’s side terminating the Rossonerri’s 22-game unbeaten run, I Patenopei have managed to maintain their current unbeaten status at they sit in joint-first with 17 points alongside Atalanta.
Flop (Manager) Simone Inzaghi
It was another disappointing weekend for the Nerazzurri supporters as Inter were humiliated in a 3-1 defeat to Udinese.
The Italian tactician has once again made some unbearable decisions throughout the fixture as he took off Alessandro Bastoni and Henrik Mkhitaryan in exchange for Roberto Gagliardini after only 30 minutes of play due to them receiving yellow cards.
Consequently, Inzaghi’s choice was self-inflicted as Inter were poor defensively within the second half and were unable to manage I Zebrette on the counter.
Later on within the second half, the gaffer removed Francesco Acerbi in order to put on Stefan De Vrij, despite his horrific form so far this season.
Ultimately, adding the Dutch stopper on the pitch was the main cause to Inter not being able to grasp a single point from their fixture at the Dacia Arena.
The 30 year-old poorly marked Jaka Bijol, which allowed him to score a header followed by a well-taken corner by Gerard Deulofeu. In addition, De Vrij made a dreadful attempt to stop Lazar Samardzic, which led to the buil-up to Tolgay Arslan’s header past Samir Handanovic.
