After bagging a brace in the derby showdown against Bologna, Gianluca Scamacca was, according to Opta data, the best Italian performer on the penultimate matchday in Serie A. At the Dall’Ara on Sunday, the Neroverdi striker opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a header from Berardi’s corner. He only became more menacing after his goal, constantly looking for space and battling away with his opponents. He was involved in nine duels in total - Frattesi and Berardi were the only Sassuolo players to take part in more - and three aerial duels, more than any other Neroverdi man. He was always ready to turn on the afterburner and race forward, like he did in the 80th minute when he found the net again following Frattesi’s through ball. It means that he’s now bagged 16 goals this campaign, making him the fourth youngest player with more than 15 to his name in the Top 5 European leagues in 2021/22 (behind Haaland, Vinicius Junior and Vlahovic). Furthermore, he’s just one of two players - the other is Immobile (15) - to have reached double goalscoring figures on the road this Serie A campaign (11). These numbers highlight just how well he’s done during a campaign where he’s doubled his tally from last season (eight top-flight goals for Genoa in 2020/21).

In addition to his brace, many of Scamacca’s qualities were on display against Bologna: the effective manner in which he protects the ball (also thanks to his physique), his heading ability and his cool head in front of goal. His characteristics allow Sassuolo to remain high up the pitch, and there’s always a goal threat. In Bologna, he had four shots (only Berardi had more) and, together with Berardi, the most attempts on target (three). He also won the ball back on four occasions, with only Chiriches doing better in this regard.

Match stats against Bologna

Goals: 2

Shots on target: 3

Aerial duels: 3

Recoveries: 4