Standings implications: it was a rollercoaster because of the chronological order of the events, but the Champions League race finished in the same way it was entering the round, as Atalanta and Inter were successful and staved off Milan. The Nerazzurri sent Empoli to Serie B as Genoa’s grand plan to wait for the Beneamata to win worked out, as neither them or Fiorentina were interested in attacking in their match. Roma bid farewell to Daniele De Rossi with a W over Parma.
Among the meaningless games, Juventus got beat by Sampdoria, Napoli by Bologna, while Udinese bested Cagliari on the road and Frosinone and Chievo shared the spoils in a nil-nil tie.
Confirmations: Dries Mertens closed the season with five goals in a row. Duvan Zapata and Alejandro Gomez did not disappoint in the crucible of pressure and Mario Pasalic has been weirdly prolific late in the year. Leonardo Pavoletti headed home his 16th goal of the season. Radja Nainggolan bagged the most important goal in Inter’s season with great aplomb. Iago Falque found the mark for the second week in a row. Gregoire Defrel, Hakan Calhanoglu and Hamed Traorè extended their late season blooms. Domenico Berardi posted his fourth goal in the last two months, but he also picked up the silliest red card. Frank Kessie kept Milan’s hopes alive for some time with a brace.
Guess who is back: Ciro Immobile finally snapped out of a seven-round drought with a nasty cross-shot. Gervinho notched his tenth goal of the year, ending a two-month slump. Balde Keita fell on the wayside a while ago, but he delivered immediately after entering the Empoli bout. Federico Santander had not hit the net since the beginning of February, but he returned to the stat sheet with a brace against Napoli, Lorenzo Pellegrini since late February. Gianluca Caprari spent a lot of time on the shelf due to a leg fracture earlier in the season and not done damage since late December: he buried a gorgeous free kick to seal the deal against Juventus. Blerin Dzemaili had a pretty disappointing season but closed it with his first goal on a pretty daisy-cutter.
Surprise scorers: after scoring to Juventus few weeks back, Sasa Lukic punished Lazio too, while Lorenzo De Silvestri rung the bell for the second time this season. Faouzi Ghoulam punched one home against Bologna. Emil Hallfredsson and Sebastien De Maio lifted Udinese past Cagliari with their first goals of the year. Francesco Vicari and Mo Fares helped SPAL put up a fight against Milan.
Clutch goal: Diego Perotti sent an emotional crowd home happy with a late header against Parma.
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