🇮🇹 Serie A Player of the Week - Still making up for lost time | OneFootball

On Saturday and Sunday, four outstanding Serie A fixtures from before the division’s break due to coronavirus were concluded.

We use them to crown our first Serie A Player of the Week …

Samuel Di Carmine – Hellas Verona

After making his Serie A debut as a fresh-faced teen with Fiorentina in 2006, it has been a long road back to the top for Di Carmine.

But he has made up for well over a decade of lost time with some standout showings this season, none more so than against Cagliari on Saturday night.

Verona beat the Isolani 2-1 at home thanks to a first half double from Di Carmine, who tortured the visiting defence throughout.

Those goals took the 31-year-old’s tally for the season to five, more than any other Verona player and each showcased what a well-rounded player he is.

His first was a thumping header from a Darko Lazović cross, while the second was perhaps the goal of the weekend, rivalled only by Romelu Lukaku’s team goal for Inter.

The ex-QPR man showed outstanding strength and determination on the halfway line to outmuscle Artur Ionita for a ball he looked like he had no right to win.

That set his side free on a counter-attack that ended with Di Carmine thumping in a glorious strike from 25 yards for the Mastini’s first goal from outside the area since last October.

He did exit the action shortly after the interval, sacrificed with his side hanging on due to Fabio Borini’s dismissal in the first half, but by that point the damage was already done.

Di Carmine has waited a long time to get a second crack at the big time and it is hard not to enjoy him putting in big performances like this one.

The striker is a major reason why Verona have not struggled on their own Serie A return like some had anticipated.

Honourable mentions should also go to Papu Gómez, Duvan Zapata and Luigi Sepe.