Serie A Team of the Month: Ronaldo finally gets going for Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal drought lasted three matches. A length of time quite common for most strikers and not nearly enough to cause concern, but not for Ronaldo and the high standards he has set during his staggering career. The Portugal international failed to find the back of the net in Juventus’ first game in September but scored twice against Sassuolo in the match after, a massive weight off his hulking shoulders.
Ronaldo finished September’s league action with three goals and three assists, helping Juventus open up a six-point lead over Napoli at the top of Serie A. The 33-year-old is the highest WhoScored rated player in Serie A this season and garnered a rating of 8.00 last month alone. However, it wasn’t good enough to secure top spot in September, with AC Milan star Suso pipping him to that accolade.
The 24-year-old, who is second behind Ronaldo in the seasonal rating, scored a stunning WhoScored rating of 8.31 from four matches in September. Suso scored twice and provided two assists in that time, picking up the star man award on two occasions. In that time, his rating never dipped below 7.50 and helped AC Milan go unbeaten during the month. Furthermore, Only Ronaldo (15) hit the target more times than Suso (11).
Rounding off the top three performers from Serie A last month is Genoa sensation Krzysztof Piatek, who is the top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues (8). Piatek made his Genoa debut in the early rounds of the cup this season, netting four goals. He hasn’t looked back since. The 23-year-old has scored in every game for Genoa since then, raking up seven goals in five games last month. Genoa have scored 11 league goals this season and Piatek has netted eight of them.
While the aforementioned trio caught the eye last month, the same cannot be said for Chievo midfielder Perparim Hetemaj. Of Serie A players that made at least three appearances last month, the 31-year-old garnered the lowest WhoScored rating (5.71). Chievo did not win a game Hetemaj featured in and the veteran notably bagged a rating of 4.74 during a 55-minute performance in a 2-0 defeat to Genoa at the end of the month.