Race for the Scudetto: Dybala delivers for De Rossi's Roma as Inter Milan close in on title
Match of the week: Inter v Juventus
Perhaps with Sunday night's match the fate of the Italian league has been decided. Inter confirmed themselves as the best team in Serie A: the Nerazzurri won 1-0 and went four points clear at the top of the standings (with one game less to play than the Bianconeri).
The decisive goal was scored by... Juventus' Federico Gatti! Sadly for him, the defender was the star of the match with an own goal. In order to stop Marcus Thuram and prevent the striker from reaching a cross from Benjamin Pavard, the Italian defender sent the ball into the goal past goalkeeper Wojciech Szcezsny.
The Bianconeri tried hard to find the equaliser, but Inter are not conceding anything to anyone and even Max Allegri was forced to throw in the towel. There are still a lot of games to go until the end of the championship, but there does not seem to be any serious obstacles on the horizon that can hold back Inter's run to the Scudetto.
Simone Inzaghi has done and is doing a great job. His side are playing with heart and on the field they can perform with their eyes closed, conceding very few goal-scoring chances to their opponents on the pitch. Right now, Inter have their hands on the 2023/2024 Scudetto, the path seems to be set.
Team of the week: Super De Ketelaere in form for Atalanta
Despite the points earned in the last few matches, Maurizio Sarri's Lazio are experiencing a moment of crisis, so much so that they have shot only six times on goal in the last few matches, but this should by no means overshadow the amazing performance of Atalanta, led by an extraordinary Charles De Ketelaere.
The former Milan player has found his own dimension in Bergamo and at the moment he is Gian Piero Gasperini's star. Atalanta-Lazio was a one-sided match that ended 3-1 for De Ketelaere and his teammates: the Belgian scored two goals, including one from the penalty spot.
Mario Pasalic scored the first goal of the match, paving the way for his team to win. The consolation goal scored by Ciro Immobile from the spot in the 84th minute, when the score was 3-0, was useless. Atalanta played the best game of their season, leaving only crumbs for their opponents.
Sarri is struggling to find solutions at the moment and will have to rediscover a way to lift his team's season, as Lazio's fans begin criticising Claudio Lotito, the club's owner. The team from Bergamo, in any case, moved up to fourth place.
Team performance of the week: Bologna
Slowly, Thiago Motta's Bologna are on the way back. After a super start, which perhaps raised the expectations of their fans too high, the side coached by the former PSG and Italian national team player experienced a moment of decline and difficulty.
Now, however, Bologna seems to have regained confidence: first a draw against AC Milan, now a win against Sassuolo, with an excellent performance and a great performance from Lewis Ferguson.
Individual performances of the week: Dybala and Pellegrini
Roma beat Cagliari 4-0 with a sumptuous performance full of quality. The two players who led the victory were, without a doubt, Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini.
The captain scored the first goal of the match - his third in three games - then made an assist that Dybala sent it home for 2-0. The Argentine also made it 3-0, this time scoring yet another perfect penalty.
Daniele De Rossi is bringing out the best in his players and we must credit him. He put his best players in the most ideal conditions to bring out their best qualities.
The aforementioned pair played a practically perfect game and the result is a direct consequence of the level of their performance. Some feared that De Rossi's ideas might somehow limit Dybala, but the proof on the pitch is saying otherwise: the Argentine is enjoying himself playing this way. Pellegrini is also finally playing further forward and the improvement is showing.
