The halfway point of Serie A has arrived and the final round of fixtures before the winter break was eventful, with Atalanta climbing to the top of the scoring charts by beating Sassuolo 6-2 at the Mapei Stadium.
Juventus defeated Sampdoria 2-1 in a game dominated by VAR, while Gonzalo Higuain ended his drought to fire AC Milan to victory over SPAL.
Elsewhere, Roma beat Parma, Inter downed Empoli, Napoli edged Bologna while Lazio were held by Torino at the Stadio Olimpico.
There were some standout performances across the peninsula and, that considered, here is the Forza Italian Football Team of the Week.
Stefano Sorrentino – Chievo (3 Team of the Week appearances)
Finally, the Flying Donkeys are off the mark and Sorrentino kept a clean sheet to help them on their way.
Fabio Depaoli – Chievo
What a game from the defender. He was flawless in his defensive duties and also offered a threat going forward for the Flying Donkeys as they got their first win of the season.
Nicolas N’Koulou – Torino (3 apps)
The Cameroonian was a rock against Lazio and he completely shut Ciro Immobile out of the game, making it easy to forget the Italian was even on the pitch for the Biancocelesti.
Milan Skriniar – Inter
It was only Empoli, but Skriniar was imperious at the heart of Inter’s defence and made light work of everything that came his way. Luciano Spalletti could have sacrificed Stefan de Vrij and the Biscione would have been fine.
Alfred Duncan – Sassuolo (3 apps)
He was on the wrong side of a 6-2 hammering, but Duncan can hold his head high for Sassuolo. He worked tirelessly and scored his second and third goals of the season as well. As much as the Neroverdi deserved their defeat, the Ghanaian very much didn’t.
Lorenzo Pellegrini – Roma (2 apps)
He didn’t play for the majority of the game but within 30 seconds he made a difference for Roma, providing a sublime assist as Cengiz Under doubled their lead.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – Lazio (3 apps)
He hasn’t always been at his best this season but he delivered on Saturday in a performance that will show Europe’s elite why they were interested in him. Spent the first half laying chances on for his teammates before taking matters into his own hands and scoring an excellent goal himself.
Josip Ilicic – Atalanta (2 apps)
He only needed 30 minutes on the pitch to make a real difference for the Goddess and the Slovenian showed his worth to Gian Piero Gasperini by bagging his second hattrick of the season and third of 2018.
Papu Gomez – Atalanta (3 apps)
Ilicic stole the headlines but it was Gomez who stole the show in Reggio Emilia where the Bergamaschi’s No.10 and captain assisted the opener, scored an excellent second and provided an extraordinary pass for Ilicic late on. Undoubtedly the best player on the pitch.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Juventus (5 apps)
Another game in which the Portuguese wasn’t all that involved but, ultimately, he was the difference as his two goals secured the win for the Old Lady and took his tally for the season to 14.
Arkadiusz Milik – Napoli (4 apps)
A fifth Serie A brace for the Polish forward takes his tally into double figures for the season, but it wasn’t enough for the Partenopei to beat Bologna without the assistance of Dries Mertens’ late winner.
