All hail Charles I: de Ketelaere is the GOTM king of October!
Voted by the Nerazzurri fans on all our social accounts
Ladies and Gentlemen, Charles de Ketelaere! After getting back into his old habits with a third place in the latest POTM pageant, the Belgian virtuoso took hold of the baton handed by outgoing winner Lazar Samardžić in a fully-fledged hand-over between two imaginative tacticians, a feat made all the more striking considering the double wringer set up for October alone! Putting off, at least momentarily, theatricality to the more descriptive excerpts below, the winner of the third seasonal pageant is none other than the stunner pulled off by our number 17 against Hellas Verona, an undisputed ace to seal the Nerazzurri's temporary poker.
As per custom, climb up the standings and sift through the "exit polls" (in between brackets the "approval rate"):
Winner: Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta 6-1 Hellas Verona, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD9 (52%);
Runner-up: Marten de Roon, Atalanta 5-1 Genoa, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD7 (21%);
3rd place: Mateo Retegui, Venezia 0-2 Atalanta, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD8 (14%);
4th place: Éderson Dos Santos, Atalanta 5-1 Genoa, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD7 (13%);
To brush up on our 4 finalists' scoring prowess, check the IG reels and the résumes below
4th place: Éderson Dos Santos, Atalanta 5-1 Genoa, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD7
Bringing up the rear this month this month fell to Éderson Dos Santos with the first whiplash on the list and his seasonal scoring first. A net that puts an exclamation mark, or rather a full “Caps Lock” considering the emphasis put into place by the Carioca midfielder, to a striking choral play, first ignited by the black-and-blue number 13 himself nonetheless: upon spreading the play for Lookman, who laid it off to Retegui, who retuned the ball back to sender with a first-touch no-look pass, Éderson only had to shepard the ball and step an inch closer befor unleashing his relentless right-footer under the roof of the net.
3rd place: Mateo Retegui, Venezia 0-2 Atalanta, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD8
After "skipping a turn" last month, the maiden GOTM winner of the 2024-2025 season makes his comeback in the shortlist with a polar opposite compared to the goal produced by his closest pursuer (a term which is not a mere figure of speech given the most tight margin). While the focus in describing Éderson's net was placed mainly on power, Retegui's blow to kill off the Penzo game is an ode to finesse instead: a gentle rapier jab, a cucharita, made all the more striking considering the grit and "competitive malice" showed by our number 32 in both pouncing on Cuadrado's pass and outrunning Candela in the build-up.
Runner-up: Marten de Roon, Atalanta 5-1 Genoa, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD7
Runner-up honours for the other Group B stunner (and the second net scored to Genoa in contention) courtesy of our number 15, who seized the silver medal through a "trademark de Roon" finish (namely, a boisterous volley flung from outside of the box towards the opposite corner) with a handful of complications that magnified the Oranje mid's feat even further: after flashing across the box, Samardžić's corner kick fell kindly to Vazquez's head, who, in an attempt to clear it off, only managed to send the ball right into de Roon's outreach. Without thinking it twice, the Dutchman opted for a first-touch finish with enough plastic twist to overhaul an otherwise "dead ball" into a knuckleball to give Genoa their 5th strike...
Winner: Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta 6-1 Hellas Verona, 2024-2025 Serie A Enilive MD9
Time to get to the undisputed winner of this month's run: Charles de Ketelaere! In letter and spirit a compendium of all the goals that made it to the final stage, CDK's stunner against Hellas Verona represents a one-of-a-kind for its peculiarity in blending together: the might of Éderson's tomahawk, the panache of Retegui's chip shot and the accurancy behind de Roon's execution: made all ther more prominent by the poise showed by the Belgian in unleashing a pinpoint left-footer, the whole lot whilst standing still, to the top corner. The solo build-up deserves a side note as well: despite the (apparently) muted start from the byline and the ongoing man-marking implemented by the Scaligiers' defence, CDK nonetheless made his way, almost on tip-toes, into the box through a whole host of faints and trick to befuddle his marker before waving his magic wand and plucking the GOTM out of thin air. A pièce de résistance worth watching on loop time and again...