Serie A, Week 18: Napoli, AC Milan pick up wins on Monday

Once upon a time, Kaka was the best footballer in the world. He was a Ballon d’Or winner and, along with Ronaldinho, Brazil’s most prized possession.

Those memories and that return is what made Monday so special. Kaka ran down the left, gathered the ball and was plenty patient in settling before slotting the ball inside the post for the goal -- his 100th goal with Milan.

Lazio created a couple of chances after half an hour. Lulic cushioned a header down for Hernanes to turn wide, before Candreva stung Handanovic’s gloves with an angled drive.

Fredy Guarin and Radu picked up costly yellow cards for a brief skirmish, stemming from a foul on Lulic. Both players will now be suspended for next weekend’s games. A minute before the interval, Juan Jesus played a poor backpass, forcing Handanovic to run out and boot clear from the advancing Candreva.

Atalanta looked to play compact and on the counter-attack, and did manage to restrict Milan after their bright opening. Massimiliano Allegri’s side had to work increasingly hard to find any space between La Dea’s rigid banks of four, though struggled to create anything meaningful when venturing forward themselves.

That was until Kaká broke Bergamascan hearts with his second goal, with 25 minutes of the match left. Substitute Mario Balotelli’s low cross bounced conveniently for the Milan captain, who was left with a simple finish inside the six-yard box.

Nenad Krsticic did find the back of the net on 13 minutes, but the effort was correctly ruled out for offside. Eder had demonstrated some neat one touch play in the build up.

Callejon dribbled through traffic and curled over from 18 yards. Krsticic threatened once more after running onto Angelo Palombo’s through ball. However, he took a poor first touch as he rounded Rafael and the chance came to nothing.

Lazio completed a league double over Inter last season and have won the last three meetings between the two sides at the Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio injuries and suspensions

Juve made sure they didn’t make the same defensive mistake twice, retreating into a highly conservative shape when defending, frequently with all 11 players behind the ball. They didn’t see much of the possession in the opening quarter-of-an-hour, though made the precious little they did have count with an opening goal in the 17th minute.

Roma responded well to going a goal down, and forced Buffon into a number of diving stops in quick succession. However, the veteran keeper was largely only tested from distance, as Juve once again retreated into defensive formation. Roma played ponderously in front of the bianconeri defence, and were given momentary scares before halftime with Tévez and Llorente both going close.

A second-half header from Gonzalo Rodríguez gave Fiorentina a 1-0 win over Livorno on Sunday. The three hard-fought points also put them joint third in Serie A.

Roncaglia was presented with another effort before half-time but he managed to deflect Valero’s corner well wide from close range.

Neither side has been on the end of a 0-0 scoreline this season, although last season’s corresponding fixture did produce a stalemate. Samp have failed to find the net on each of their last five visits to the San Paolo.

Napoli injuries and suspensions