Mattia Perin (7 points): a solid number of clean sheets in this round as well as defenses are stiffening up. There was some excellent goalkeeping across the board, starting off with Udinese’s Juan Musso, continuing with Juventus’ Wojciech Szczesny and finishing off with Sampdoria’s Emil Audero, but the nod goes to Genoa’s bulwark because of two terrific and key saves on close-range shots by Joao Pedro and Giovanni Simeone.
Cristian Romero (11 points): he dominated at both ends in the Milan clash, where he kept Zlatan Ibrahimovic reasonably in check, holding him scoreless for the first time in a Serie A match, and picked up a goal and assist in the opposing box. He perfectly contorted himself in the air to meet the ball on a long cross to give his side the lead in the early going and the slipped it to Duvan Zapata on the final goal.
Maya Yoshida (9 points): the Japanese veteran broke the deadlock in the Parma match with an opportunistic finish from point-blank range on a corner kick, pouncing on a whiff by an adversary for his first goal since he moved to Serie A, on top of providing his usual tidy contribution in the back.
Kevin Bonifazi (5 points): stopping the most prolific attack in the League is no easy feat, but Udinese managed thanks to a vintage performance by their defense, something that had rarely happened so far. Bonifazi put his impressive physicality to good use going mano-a-mano with Romelu Lukaku.
Juan Cuadrado (7 points): the Colombian international was recently moved among defenders and fully benefitted from the clean sheet, moreover he sent in the corner kick that was bagged by Weston McKennie, dishing his fourth assist of the campaign.
Josip Ilicic (6 points): he pulled the strings against Milan, rising to the occasion and furnishing another helluva display. He was not to be denied while dancing through defenders and he made the stat-sheet by nailing a penalty kick, which is not a cakewalk against Gianluigi Donnarumma. He is not up to three goals and four helpers in the season, mostly coming in the past eight matches.
Weston McKennie (6 points): the dynamic American youngster shined versus Bologna, as he made plays all over the place thanks to his tireless motor and was especially a major asset in the box thanks to his continuous cuts. He ultimately capitalized with a thumping header on a corner kick, hitting the net for the third time in Serie A play.
Mattia Zaccagni (5 points): his surge to fantasy stardom continued thanks to goal-plus-assist display against Napoli, the club he is reportedly about to join for the summer. He set up Antonin Barak with a sly pass and just as cunningly beat the opponents to the punch on a soft cross from the base-line and nudged it home with a little header to finish off the Azzurri late. He has now recorded six goals and five assists he is fourth most productive midfielder.
Lorenzo Pellegrini (5 points): he was often shielded by the coach when he was criticized in the past and he showed up for him in the Spezia tilt. Roma almost threw away with a late blunder, but there was enough time left on the clock for one final push, which ended with the midfield smashing it home from inside the box. He also served an early assist.
Borja Mayoral (7 points): sometimes he can have some big misses, but he can produced greatly when he has it going, and not only with easy goals, but also with some stunners from distance. He carried Roma in the early portion of the crazy Spezia contest with a brace, his second one in the League, and he could suddenly have a massive role if the rift between Edin Dzeko and Paulo Fonseca does not get resolved.
Simone Zaza (7 points): the mercurial striker could not have had a better start under the new coach, as he looked as gritty and effective as ever in the Benevento game, allowing Torino to tie with a clinical twofer with two not-so-easy finishes, the second one in particular as he latched onto the ball with a slide to make it two-all in the final minutes.
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