A crucial weekend in Serie A, with the late winners of Simone Zaza and Khouma Babacar settling the two big games, with Juventus taking the top of the table off Napoli, and Fiorentina holding on to third place as they beat off Inter.
Napoli stopped their run of eight straight wins, whilst AC Milan and Roma keep on their resurgence with two crucial wins. Lazio also got the three points, whilst at the bottom, a Daniel Ciofani double gave Frosinone oxygen in the relegation battle.
Our Team of the Week will see a 4-3-3 formation deployed.
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Gianluigi Buffon – Juventus
First Team of the Week appearance for one of the best goalkeepers of all time. It means he is helped by a wonderful defence, but when he is needed he does his job, as always. Wonderful save to deny Napoli the lead in the vital potentially Scudetto-deciding encounter.
Andrea Barzagli – Juventus (4 Team of the Week appearances)
“He is one of the best in the world.” These words come from his teammate and captain Buffon, and they encapsulate how essential Barzagli has been for Juventus. Completely deleted Gonzalo Higuain off the pitch and helped the Bianconeri to their 10th clean sheet in the last 15 games.
Gonzalo Rodriguez – Fiorentina (4 apps)
Simply insuperable in the Fiorentina defence. Marcelo Brozovic’s opener for Inter is not his fault and if Mauro Icardi hardly saw the ball it’s because the Viola skipper easily won the duel between captains.
Joao Miranda – Inter (4 apps)
The Fiorentina goals are not his fault, and despite the loss he saved Inter on several occasions and was helping the Nerazzurri to a decent draw until Babacar’s winner. His teammate Jeison Murillo got everything wrong, making the night even harder for the Brazilian.
Lucas Digne – Roma
Clean display by the left back, who risked very little against Carpi and put the icing on the cake giving Roma the opener with a wonder strike from 30 metres.
Keisuke Honda – AC Milan (2 apps)
For a good hour, every danger to the Genoa defence started from his feet. He got the assist for Carlos Bacca’s finish and scored himself with a precise shot from range. The Japanese international is becoming essential in Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Milan.
Borja Valero – Fiorentina (6 apps)
Not one of his best nights, but then in one second everything changed: the header that gave Fiorentina the 1-1 is a mix of genius and technique and was absolutely vital as it woke the Viola up who had been terrible until that moment.
Federico Bernardeschi – Fiorentina (2 apps)
What a player. Paulo Sousa believes he is “ready for the national team”, and to be honest, it is hard to say otherwise. He played all over the pitch against Inter, mixing moments of pure class to crucial defensive runs. And he got Alex Telles sent off.
Simone Zaza – Juventus
His goal on 88 minutes could mean the title for Juve come the end of the season. Always considered a step behind the other Bianconeri forwards, on a night when Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata were inefficient on target, Zaza powered his left foot and sent Juventus top of Serie A.
Daniel Ciofani – Frosinone (2 apps)
Oxygen. This is in a nutshell what Ciofani brings to Frosinone, with a double that gives the Ciociari all three points in a really tough yet crucial away game. If Roberto Stellone’s men are to stay up and avoid relegation, games like this one will prove to be vital.
Ciro Immobile – Torino
Ciro is back, and finally finding consistency in Serie A, with some crucial goals too. Torino went 1-0 down early on, but the striker put things right with the equaliser from the penalty spot and then the definitive 3-1.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com