Winners and Losers from Serie A Week 2

Dan Colasimone@@ArgentinaFWX.com LogoContributor ISeptember 15, 2014

Winners and Losers from Serie A Week 2

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    Massimo Pinca/Associated Press

    It was another week of thrills and spills in Serie A, with title favourites Juventus and Roma notching up another three points apiece.

    Milan currently top the table after earning their second-straight win, while Inter thumped Sassuolo 7-0 and Lazio also won easily in what was a good round for most of the big Italian clubs.

    There are several teams who will have felt they slipped up, however, especially considering the strong start the heavyweights are enjoying, while certain individual performances also stood out.

    Here are seven winners and losers from Week 2 of the Scudetto race.

Winner: Mauro Icardi

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    Argentine youngster Mauro Icardi has been trusted to lead the line in the early part of the season for Inter Milan, and has looked impressive so far.

    He took his game to another level altogether on Sunday, though, by banging in a hat-trick against hapless Sassuolo at the San Siro.

    There was nothing special about Icardi's first bundled-in goal, but the next two were of the highest class.

    One was guided in with deadly precision from outside the area, while his third strike was lashed into the top of the net from an acute angle.

    With his confidence growing by the week, the 21-year-old looks set for a blockbuster season.

Losers: Napoli

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    In what looks like it is going to be a frantic Serie A race, Napoli risk falling off the pace by losing home matches to the likes of Chievo Verona.

    The 1-0 defeat on Sunday, courtesy of a Maxi Lopez strike, leaves the southern club three points behind Milan, Juventus and Roma after just two weeks.

    It's hardly a fatal gap, but it means any more slip-ups will cause an increasingly desperate situation for a club that will already be ruing missing out on the Champions League group stages.

Winners: Lazio

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    Lazio bounced back from their opening-round loss to Milan with a thumping 3-0 victory over Cesena on Sunday.

    The capital club showed no signs of a bruised ego as they brushed aside the Seahorses at the Stadio Olimpo with an imperial display.

    Antonio Candreva was particularly impressive in his 300th appearance, scoring one goal and setting up another in a match Stefano Pioli's side never looked like losing.

Losers: Sassuolo

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    They escaped relegation by a mere two points in 2013-14, but after their abject display against Inter at the San Siro, Sassuolo will be among the favourites to make the drop this time around.

    The Neroverdi were made to look like they belong in Serie B by a rampant Icardi and co., and coach Eusebio Di Francesco will have a lot of work to do during the week to figure out why his defence and midfield went absent for almost the entire game.

    The match was basically lost withing 30 minutes as Inter went 3-0 up, with Sassuolo looking like they were ready to crawl off into the dark somewhere to lick their wounds.

    To add further pain, star forward Domenico Berardi was red-carded on the hour mark for a senseless elbow on Juan Jesus.

    Things are not looking very peachy for Sassuolo at present.

Winner: Claudio Marchisio

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    The Italian champions were again impressive as they saw off Udinese 2-0, with midfielder Claudio Marchisio proving a dominant force in the middle of the pitch.

    Aside from swerving in a glorious goal with the outside of his boot, the Italian international had an excellent all-round game.

    Whoscored.com rated him as the best player on the pitch:

    Claudio Marchisio: MotM vs Udinese, Rating 8.4, Passes 87, Goals 1, Tackles 3 http://t.co/hHMy4TMeSM

    — WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 13, 2014

    There might not be as much hype surrounding Marchisio as there is around the likes of Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, but he shows regularly that he is a midfielder of the highest quality.

Losers: Fiorentina

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    Like Napoli, there is a real chance Fiorentina could find themselves well behind the top sides if they continue to bleed points in these early games.

    Even though they were a man up for the final part of the match against Genoa following a red card to Facundo Roncaglia, La Viola could not find a way past a brilliant Mattia Perin in goal.

    After their Week 1 loss to Roma, Vincenzo Montella's side are now left with a solitary point after two rounds. The situation is starting to look dire.

Winner: Filippo Inzaghi

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    Though he is unlikely to be satisfied with the manner of Milan's roller coaster 5-4 win over Parma, there is no doubt new coach Filippo Inzaghi has instilled a fighting spirit in the team.

    Parma deserve plaudits for never giving up in the thrilling encounter, but every time they challenged the Rossoneri, Inzaghi's men stepped up their own game to keep their noses in front.

    Despite the best efforts of Antonio Cassano and friends, a Jeremy Menez-inspired Milan had too much firepower and too much determination to allow themselves to miss out on maximum points.

    Inzaghi has work to do on his team's defence, but for now the Rossoneri faithful will be thrilled to sit atop the Serie A table.

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