It was close, Inter nearly lost points at home against Verona, but Davide Frattesi's goal may have been a sign of destiny. An unexpected collapse of Napoli at Torino's home. Roma and Atalanta drew at the Olimpico, Juventus won at the last gasp against Salernitana. Let's see what happened over the Serie A weekend:
MOMENT OF THE WEEK - VLAHOVIC'S GOAL
He was the most awaited man. The Serbian is always called upon to make a difference, sometimes the pressure seems to be so much that it weighs on him and creates difficulties in his performance.
But on Sunday afternoon Vlahovic took Juventus by the hand and led them to victory. First the assist for Samuel Iling Jr. then the goal almost at the end of the game, a beautiful header that swept away the fears of seeing Inter run away alone at the top of the standings.
It was a winner that gave Juventus the hope of still being able to continue to fight shoulder to shoulder with Simone Inzaghi's Inter. Considering the importance of the goal scored by Vlahovic, both on a personal level (as evidenced by his celebration in front of the fans, shirtless) and for Juventus' ambitions, this can only be the highlight of the Serie A weekend.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK - DAVIDE FRATTESI
Man of destiny? Maybe so. Of course, it's early to say such a challenging thing, it's still January, but the goal scored by Davide Frattesi, the way he scored it, really suggests something magical, a sign of destiny.
Surprisingly, Saturday's match between Inter and Verona was more complicated than expected for the Nerazzurri, despite the fact that the opening goal came after only 13 minutes, of course again signed by Lautaro Martinez. Somehow Verona had managed to find the equaliser with Thomas Henry in the 74th minute, with Inter missing so many chances to extend the lead.
It looked like the classic cursed game, but in the 93rd minute came the goal by Frattesi, perhaps the Inter player most in trouble so far. Arriving in the summer for a big fee, Simone Inzaghi has not yet promoted him to starter, which is why the former Sassuolo man has been repeatedly described as impatient. It was he in the 93rd minute who found the goal after a short and poor clearance by the Verona goalkeeper, amid controversy over an elbowing by Alessandro Bastoni on Duda (not seen by the referee and VAR).
The explosion of joy was unbelievable, it seemed there was a trophy up for grabs, but it was just the sound of Davide's happiness, finally decisive even in an Inter shirt. In the 100th minute Henry missed the equalising penalty, which would have allowed Juventus to reach the top with the three points gained against Salernitana, which is why Frattesi's goal really seems like a sign of destiny.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF THE WEEK - ABDOU HARROUI, ANDREA PINAMONTI
He was sorely missed by Frosinone The Moroccan has recently returned to Eusebio Di Francesco's disposal, and despite the unfortunate and fortuitous defeat suffered by the Ciociari at home against Monza, Abdou Harroui showcased all his qualities.
At one point in the match, Frosinone was losing 0-3 after an unbelievable and unlucky own goal by Matias Soulé, but that's when the great strike from the Moroccan midfielder came, played by Di Francesco both as a central midfielder and as a winger over the season. Intelligent, ductile, with great technical qualities: the return of Harroui could allow Frosinone to get out of the difficult moment it has been experiencing for the past few weeks.
Another player who particularly shined over the league weekend was Andrea Pinamonti, Sassuolo's striker, who is often unfairly criticised and underestimated, although he is nonetheless scoring goals with good consistency.
On Saturday against Fiorentina it was he who signed the winning goal: in the ninth minute of the first half he sent the ball beyond Pietro Terracciano, Fiorentina's goalkeeper, at the end of a beautiful team play. It was a strong and precise shot, impossible to save, a blast that allowed the Neroverdi to raise their heads and move away from the hot zone of the standings.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK - TORINO DEFEAT NAPOLI
More than a defeat, the one suffered by Napoli against Torino was a meltdown. An afternoon to forget as quickly as possible for Walter Mazzarri and his boys, who were forced to surrender to a painful defeat with the result of 3-0.
The problem is that there was never any match. Ivan Juric's boys dominated from the first to the last minute, even taking advantage of the expulsion received by Pasquale Mazzocchi, out after 4' in his debut in his new jersey.
Tonny Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno scored, but the gap could have been bigger. And the situation at home for Napoli is becoming increasingly difficult and worrying, with a heavily deficit ranking in the race for fourth place, especially if we think of the fact that last year Kvara and his teammates won the Scudetto.
Napoli is paying for Aurelio De Laurentiis' choices and it is useless to go around it: the unconvincing decision to take Rudi Garcia, who was never made to feel real trust, then the conservative choice to take Mazzarri, mainly for environmental reasons. What happens on the pitch is a direct consequence of the chaos Napoli is experiencing off the pitch.
