Serie A Team of Week 24: Pirlo Lifts Juve, Inter's Icardi the New Capocannoniere
Another miserable draw for Roma allowed Juventus to add another two points to their lead at the top of Serie A at the weekend. The Bianconeri were troubled at times by Atalanta, but ultimately their quality—and some individual brilliance from Andrea Pirlo—made the difference in a 2-1 win.
Elsewhere, Inter won away to Cagliari despite making it difficult for themselves at times. Pippo Inzaghi bought himself some more time on the Milan bench with a home win against minnows Cesena.
Lazio did the double over Palermo thanks to Antonio Candreva, and Empoli cemented their position mid-table with a resounding 3-0 home win over rivals Chievo Verona.
Francesco Benussi
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With all the focus on Roma's current woes, it's easy to forget that the smaller sides they've been playing against still had their work cut out for them.
Hellas Verona had just 29 percent of possession on Sunday and managed only eight shots to the Giallorossi's 16.
They were saved by the woodwork in the second half when Adem Ljajic came tantalisingly close with a brilliant effort, but credit is due to Francesco Benussi between the posts. The 33-year-old Venetian contributed a number of saves to keep his side in it—including a diving block to stop a powerful long-range effort from Radja Nainggolan early on.
After a dip in form against Torino and Genoa, this draw will do a world of good for Benussi's confidence.
Elsewhere, Christian Abbiati deserves a mention for his impressive save to deny Cesena's Giuseppe De Feudis and protect Milan's lead. Torino's Daniele Padelli also impressed, stopping a penalty from Fiorentina's Khouma Babacar.
Luis Pedro Cavanda
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Antonio Candreva stole the show for Lazio against Palermo at the weekend, but Luis Pedro Cavanda and Danilo Cataldi provided the Roman with a solid base and plenty of support on the right side of the pitch.
Cavanda links the defence and attack excellently for the Aquile, and the 25-year-old Belgian was involved in plenty of action in both phases against Palermo.
The Standard Liege youth product was guilty of a few errant passes, but on the whole Stefano Pioli will be very happy with his right-back's performance.
Nemanja Vidic
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Nemanja Vidic was a disaster under Walter Mazzarri but has improved considerably since Roberto Mancini's taken over at Inter.
The 33-year-old Serbian was among the Nerazzurri's best players on Monday night in Cagliari, combining well with Hugo Campagnaro to keep the Sardinian attack at bay.
His intelligent movement and calming influence also allowed Inter's full-backs to press forward more, and while he did make one serious error to allow Andrea Cossu a shot—which the 34-year-old ballooned over—the ex-Manchester United star was otherwise solid.
Gonzalo Rodriguez
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Torino did well to hold Fiorentina to a 1-1 draw. The Viola had been scoring freely in the league of late, but the Toro back line limited the threat and should be happy to return to Turin with an important point.
Emiliano Moretti might have earned a place in this week's Best XI for those efforts were it not for Viola captain Gonzalo Rodriguez's dramatic clearance to deny Josef Martinez.
The Venezuelan had already done the hard work—passing to himself with a lob over Fiorentina keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu—and looked certain to score until the home side's veteran centre-back miraculously appeared in front of him to knee the shot wide of goal.
Mario Rui
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As impressive as Palermo have been, Empoli are definitely this season's surprise package. Few expected Maurizio Sarri's men to stay up, and even fewer would have expected them to be comfortably mid-table at this late stage of the season.
The secret to Sarri's success seems to be the balance he's struck between talented youngsters and less fancied but still hungry journeymen. Mario Rui falls into the former category, and though he's just 23 with little top-flight experience, the Portuguese left-back now looks like a seasoned Serie A star.
Rui focused more on his defensive duties against Chievo Verona, and as a result the visitors had little luck on their right flank at the Stadio Carlo Castellani. That solidity at the back allowed the Azzurri's forward players to shine in a comfortable 3-0 victory over a direct rival.
Andrea Pirlo
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Andrea Pirlo has just four goals in all competitions this season, but the 35-year-old has always been more about quality than quantity.
The ex-Milan playmaker was in sparkling form against Atalanta, and if the visitors had any doubts about the veracity of Juve's equaliser, they had nothing to question about the brilliance of their decisive second goal.
It was classic Pirlo, a perfectly weighted, curling shot from distance that flew over six players and left Marco Sportiello utterly helpless.
Aside from the goal, Pirlo controlled Juve's play perfectly, dictating the tempo of the game in typically classy fashion. This season, they've proved that they don't need him to win—but when he plays like this they certainly want him.
Highlights can be seen on the Corriere della Sera's website.
Giacomo Bonaventura
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Giacomo Bonaventura was excellent for Milan before Christmas before a dip in form stunted his effectiveness.
Recently, the Italian has come good again, and against Cesena he was the Rossoneri's best player. The ex-Atalanta midfielder opened the scoring after 21 minutes and was denied another by the woodwork early in the second half.
Looked at objectively, he's a decent player with no remarkable strengths in his game. The fact that he's so important to Pippo Inzaghi's side right now says a lot about the current state of the San Siro giants.
There's still plenty of time for improvement—he's just 25—but at his current level he'd struggle to make it into any top Serie A starting XI.
That said, Bonaventura deserves credit for stepping up at a difficult time for Milan and was genuinely impressive this week.
Mateo Kovacic
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Inter's Mateo Kovacic rivalled Pirlo for best midfield maestro this week, decimating the Cagliari defence with a combination of technique and clever link-up play with Mauro Icardi.
The 20-year-old Croatian set up his goal with a brilliant backheel flick to Lukas Podolski, who then passed to Icardi before the Argentine held up the ball long enough for Kovacic to arrive and smash it home.
Antonio Candreva
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Antonio Candreva was brilliant for Lazio against Palermo at the weekend.
On top of a fine overall display, the Roman scored a stunning solo effort to put Lazio in front, cutting in from the left before nutmegging Edgar Barreto and blasting a right-foot finish past Stefano Sorrentino into the far corner.
It was almost the perfect end to the game for the Italian international, but he foolishly injured himself while celebrating—he ran into a barrier while trying to celebrate with fans—and had to be subbed off.
Mauro Icardi
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Mauro Icardi is now Serie A's Capocannoniere thanks to a wonderful goal against Cagliari—one that also wrapped up all three points for Mancini's Nerazzurri.
The Argentine was involved in Kovacic's opener but showed his individual class for his own effort, jumping on to Gary Medel's through ball calmly before curling a perfectly struck ball across the box and into the top-left corner.
Massimo Maccarone
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Ordinarily, Massimo Maccarone isn't the most prolific forward, but he's certainly been in a scoring mood recently.
The well-travelled 35-year-old had notched up a goal in each of his previous three appearances coming into Empoli's weekend clash with Chievo, and at the Carlo Castellani he put in a virtuoso performance, rolling back the years alongside fellow veteran Francesco Tavano and scoring twice in a convincing 3-0 victory.
The young Uruguayan Matias Vecino was eye-catching in a support role, but Maccarone deserves the headlines and the plaudits for his brace.
