Serie A report card: Icardi and Milik get high grades, Allegri fails Inter’s exam
10. ICARDI – Not only for the goal, not only for the assist he provided for Perisic’s winner. He played as a leader becoming vital for the nerazzurri’s deserved win against Juventus. He kept his nerves after that Juventus had taken the lead dragging his teammates towards the win.
9. MILIK – Napoli’s tradition of ruthless strikers continues with the Poland International after that the likes of Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain had impressed at the San Paolo before the former Ajax man. They had offered € 60 million to sign Icardi earlier this summer, but after Inter’s refusal, they decided to sign Milik instead: he’s one year younger than the Argentinean and cost Napoli half of Icardi. Milik has more goal than Higuain at this stage of the campaign last season, unbelievable.
8. INZAGHI BROTHERS – Simone was hired as Lazio coach one day before the beginning of the summer transfer camp, after Bielsa’s last-minute snub. Despite lack of time and planning, Inzaghi is leading the team like a veteran coach. His brother Filippo was also brave to chose the Venezia job in Lega Pro to prove that Milan’s flop was not his fault. He snatched two amazing wins against Parma and Ancora in the last four days.
7. BORRIELLO’S CELEBRATION – The Italian striker netted a brace against his ex club Atalanta, his fourth this season. Borriello has only scored goals against his former clubs so far and has always celebrated after each one of those. Not celebrating a goal against former clubs is becoming an annoying cliché, especially for players that have worn 10 different shirts during their career.
6. CROTONE – Waiting for their first league victory, here’s the first point in Serie A in their history. It is a pity, however, that players and staff had to ‘celebrate’ this small event in the stadium of Pescara, given that Crotone’s stadium is still under restoration. Fans would deserve to see their team at home and not kilometres far from them.
5. TORINO – We expected more: better results, better style, more anger. True, Belotti and Ljajic are out of action but the Empoli clash proved that, at the moment, they are unable to go the extra mile.
4. PENALTY KICK TAKERS – It is rare to see two penalty kicks in a single game kicked as bad as Memushaj and Paloschi did yesterday. The Pescara midfielder fluffed the penalty against Lazio, the former Swansea man made a mistake from the spot against.
3. SPALLETTI – Champions League elimination, a draw in the opening Eruopa League clash, a difficult start to the season in Serie A. AS Roma are struggling and there is no proof of Spalletti’s hand so far. They lost against Firoentina for an off-side goal that should have been disallowed, but their performance was still an unconvincing one.
2. REFEREES – Two serious mistakes: the penalty kick awarded to Atalanta against Cagliari was a free kick as the foul was committed outside the danger area. Badelj’s winner in Fiorentina-Roma should have been disallowed for Kalinic’s active off-side position.
1. ALLEGRI – He wants to prove he can win also with the best players on the bench, but he’s getting something wrong. After Pjanic’s benching against Sevilla in Champions League, he made another wrong call against Inter benching Gonzalo Higuain against Inter.
