Tops and Flops of Serie A Round 35: Bogeyman Returns To Haunt Inter

With more teams having little to play for at this late stage of the season, the lack of determination is beginning to take its toll on the Serie A action. While this could translate into boring stalemates on some occasions, it is also sparking some interesting goal-fests with both teams released from their tactical shackles. Therefore, we got a little bit of everything during this Serie A weekend, so let’s recall the good, the bad and the ugly in our Tops and Flops of Serie A Round 35.

Top (Player): Tijjani Noslin

When the Verona squad was dismantled in the middle of the campaign due to their financial crisis, the management had to panic-buy some unsung players to replace the departees, but few would have imagined that these new arrivals would be able to adjust to life in Serie A swiftly and prove to be an upgrade on their predecessors.

However, this is exactly what Tijjani Noslin has been proving week in week out. The 24-year-old striker has been spearheading the Gialloblu’s charge towards safety, and his latest heroics came at the expense of Fiorentina. The Dutchman won his side the spot kick that allowed Darko Lazovic to score the winner, and when the Viola equalized, he rose to the plate once more by smashing the winner into the roof of the net, thus raising his side to the 14th spot in the Serie A table.

And who said you can’t buy quality players in January?!

Flop (Player): Nikola Milenkovic

While Noslin was enjoying a splendid Sunday afternoon at the Bentegodi, Nikola Milenkovic had a nightmarish outing, one that illustrated his forgettable campaign. The Fiorentina captain made a mess out of a ball inside his own penalty box, and the mix-up between him and his goalkeeper Oliver Christensen ended up gifting Verona the spot kick.

The Serbian then committed another howler in the shape of a poor clearance that presented Noslin with the winner on a silver plate.

Top (Coach): Claudio Ranieri

Although he didn’t prevail over Lecce in the relegation six-pointer, Cagliari fans can’t ask for more from Claudio Ranieri based on the circumstances. With Gianluca Gaetano receiving his marching orders following a nasty tackle just before half-time, the Isolani had to defend their slim lead for the majority of the match.

In the end, Nikola Krstovic snatched the equalizer for Luca Gotti’s men, but the way Ranieri organized his team at the back to defend their lead while harrying the Giallorossi on counter-attacks was truly admirable.

Flop (Coach): Igor Tudor

Just when Lazio appeared to be building some momentum for the first time this season, their three-match winning streak came to a dramatic end when Milan Djuric scored the last-gasp equalizer for Monza who snatched a 2-2 draw, thus putting an end to the Biancocelesti’s remaining Champions League aspirations.

But for Igor Tudor, this result was especially sour for the circumstances that accompanied it. For instance, the coach replaced a furious Mattia Zaccagni after a half-hour of play because he felt the winger was risking a second yellow card. Ironically, his replacement Nicolò Casale got himself booked immediately following his introduction.

The Croatian’s handling of the match wasn’t too convincing, so Lazio fans will expect him to raise his level if he’s looking to prove himself as the right man for this particularly hot seat.

Top (Team): Sassuolo

This season, Inter have been head and shoulders above all other Serie A clubs… well, maybe except one. The Italian champions have now lost two matches after 35 rounds, and astonishingly, both came against Sassuolo… Yes, the same Sassuolo that is enduring its worst campaign in the top flight, and remains, despite this win, in a miserable 19th position in the league.

Admittedly, Simone Inzaghi fielded a slightly weakened lineup at the Mapei Stadium, but with a flurry of stars on the pitch, you’d still have expected the Nerazzurri to prevail over the team that succumbed 1-5 and 0-3 to Fiorentina and Lecce in the last two rounds.

Nevertheless, bogeymen do exist in football, and in Inter’s case, he wears black and green.

Flop (Team): Napoli

At this point, one might wonder if the Napoli players are still interested in this football thing altogether. Aside from a minority, it feels as if last season’s champions can’t wait for the campaign to end, as they just can’t seem to find any sort of motivation or momentum.

After a sloppy first half in Udine, Victor Osimhen put the Partenopei in the lead, and even scored another that was ruled out for offside. However, the hosts failed to contain Udinese until the final whistle, allowing Isaac Success to score an equalizer in injury time after failing to clear what seemed to be a simple ball to the box.

At this point, surely the fans as well want the season to wrap up as soon as possible.

Top (Goalkeeper): Mile Svilar

For the second weekend in a row, Juventus were denied a win by the Top Goalkeeper of the Serie A round. Despite conceding Gleison Bremer’s equalizer, the Serbian was brilliant between the posts, producing a host of exceptional saves to deny the likes of Manuel Locatelli, Moise Kean and Federico Chiesa.