With bottom club Pescara recording their first real win of the season, Dave Taylor is delighted to select two of their players in his best XI from Week 25.
Lukasz Skorupski [Empoli]
The sturdy Pole knew he was in for a busy night from the start as Ciro Immobile severely tested him twice. He also needed to be at his acrobatic best to halt an audacious effort from Marco Parolo while another standout save from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s close up header saved further embarrassment. Heroic.
With bottom club Pescara recording their first real win of the season, Dave Taylor is delighted to select two of their players in his best XI from Week 25.
Lukasz Skorupski [Empoli]
The sturdy Pole knew he was in for a busy night from the start as Ciro Immobile severely tested him twice. He also needed to be at his acrobatic best to halt an audacious effort from Marco Parolo while another standout save from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s close up header saved further embarrassment. Heroic.
Danilo D’Ambrosio [Inter]
Kept Bologna’s opposing flank quiet and pushed up to support his midfielders sending in several balls including a beautiful chipped cross that Ivan Perisic wasted. However, when Gabigol came on he soon exploited D’Ambrosio’s fine assist for the goal which allowed Inter to come away with the points. Commanding.
Kostas Manolas [Roma]
Roma’s central two defenders were superb and set up to handle Andrea Bellotti and the equally as dangerous Adem ljajic. Attentive and brave on the ground the big Greek was dominant as his teammate Federico Fazio and kept order in his area. Firm.
Cristiano Biraghi [Pescara]
Had an ultra-solid game, produced an assist and formed a fine understanding along the Delfini’s left flank making incursions by the opposition look as inviting as a tour of a crematorium. Combined especially well with Gianluca Caprari. Conscientious.
Keita Balde Diao [Lazio]
Lazio needed to turn the game round at 1-1 when Keita was brought on and he certainly did that. Decisive where it counted as he grabbed a deflection and sweetly squeezed in a sublime volley for the eventual winner. Influential
Marek Hamsik [Napoli]
The captain played his usual indomitable game, scoring a smart goal when finding himself in the right place from a deflection. Continually supported Lorenzo Insigne and the pair made Chievo look like they possessed the artistic talent of a colony of colour-blind caribou. Spirited.
Gianluca Caprari [Pescara]
A thorn in the side of the visitors throughout and scored a brace to help wrap up the points in a rampant Pescara performance that left Genoa looking like a team with all the defensive know-how of a wet paper bag. Cool.
Radja Nainggolan [Roma]
Another superb performance with an assist and a goal. The captain can’t seem to put a foot wrong producing the perfect ball for Edin Dzeko for the opener and continued to inspire the midfield eventually combining with Francesco Totti to score the fourth in the final minutes. Motivating.
Lorenzo Insigne [Napoli]
Started brilliantly with a woodwork skimming free kick and when he turned on the pace he blew Chievo defenders away with an ease that matched his quick thinking. He eventually made the breakthrough when curling home a right-footer and also played a massive part in Hamsik’s goal with some sublime dribbling. Brilliant.
Paulo Dybala [Juventus]
A superb performance by the Argentinian who scored a brace and produced an assist. As an absolute menace throughout, he hit the post with his first free kick and then scored with his second, as he curled the ball over the wall before his subtle assist and second goal. Relentless.
Gonzalo Higuain [Juventus]
Took a little while to warm up yet his quality as usual shone through, especially when he received the ball from Dybala, advanced on the ‘keeper and cooler than a cobra encased in ice linked it over him for 3-0 before he picked out Dybala for goal number four. Mercurial.
Special Mentions: Kwadwo Asamoah [Juventus], Piotr Zielinski [Napoli]. Ledian Memushaj [Pescara], Jose Callejon [Napoli], Leandro Paredes [Roma] Edin Dzeko [Roma], Radja Nainggolan [Roma], Ahmad Benali [Pescara] Gregoire Defrel [Sassuolo]