Incredible Immobile is Serie A's star man once again
Ciro Immobile was in sensational form for Lazio against SPAL, scoring two goals and setting up another within the first half.
His first goal was vintage, as he sniffed out a chance ahead of anyone else, breaking away to the back post to latch on to a loose cross which allowed him to finish into the roof of the net from close range.
He sometimes gets accused of simply being a penalty box finisher, but his second goal displayed a real ingenuity to make a chance for himself. After running through on goal and rounding Etrit Berisha, he finds himself being hounded by the goalkeeper who is desperately trying to stop him getting the shot away. After twisting and turning and dancing around to try and find a yard of space, he eventually does so before lofting a quite brilliant finish over the defender on the line from outside the box.
That took him to a remarkable 25 league goals for the season, and he oculd have had another, too, but ended up playing in Felipe Caicedo for a smart finish into the top left corner.
Roma lost fourth place in Serie A to Atalanta after being defeated 4-2 by Sassuolo, who were inspired by two-goal Francesco Caputo.
The veteran striker put the Giallorossi 2-0 down before they knew it, scoring a double within the first 15 minutes. His first was quite lovely as he burst through on goal, feigned to shoot with his left foot which sent the Roma defender embarrassingly sliding past, before finishing with composure into the right corner.
Five minutes later he made it two, finishing off a sweeping Sassuolo move with a simple finish into the middle of the goal.
He only completed 14 passes throughout his time on the pitch, but he did his job - finishing.
It hasn't been an easy first season at Juventus for Matthijs de Ligt, but his performances have improved recently, with him getting among the goals in the 3-0 win over Fiorentina.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first two from the penalty spot, but the Dutch defender took the game beyond the Viola with a signature, commanding header home from a corner kick.
Defensively, he looked like the De Ligt of last season at Ajax, winning 6/8 duels, 4/5 aerial duels, 100% of his tackles, as well as making nine ball recoveries and three interceptions.
He also misplaced just four passes out of 83.
Filip Djuricic was also superb in the Sassuolo win over Roma, scoring one and assisting another.
It was actually his precision through-pass seven minutes in which sent Caputo into the box to score the opener, while he would then get on the scoresheet himself after taking advantage of some unsure Roma defending to send a clinical finish through the legs of Paul Lopez.
The Serbian sent five successful crosses into the box and 10 passes into the final third, but he worked tirelessly, too, helping out the hosts with 11 ball recoveries which was the third-most in the league this weekend.
While Immobile will take most of the headlines for Lazio, Manuel Lazzari was absolutely fantastic on that right wing, bombing up and down all game long.
He set up two goals, one for Immobile with a threaded pass through the middle and then the final one for Bobby Adekanye after a rapid run to the line before reversing a pass inside for his young team-mate.
The former SPAL man was extremely unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself, too, as he sent a wicked strike off the inside of the post. Luckily for Lazio, Felipe Caicedo was on hand to put in the rebound.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Speaking of SPAL, Simone Missiroli (8.2) was actually part of the side which were demolished by Lazio.
He certainly didn't deserve to be on the wrong end of a 5-1 defeat as he made 11 ball recoveries, completed 60/65 attempted passes, and also scored the consolation.
ROUND TO FORGET
Felipe (4.8), however, was hapless for SPAL, as he made TWO direct errors leading to goals and won just one duel.