On Wednesday, SSC Napoli hosted La Liga club Girona FC for the third friendly match at the Stadio Teofilo Patini in Castel Di Sangro. After consecutive draws in the friendlies against Adana Demirspor and Mallorca, Napoli defeated Girona 3-1.
Matteo Politano exited the match midway through the first half with an apparent calf injury. He was replaced by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, confirming that the Georgian did not suffer a serious injury in Napoli’s previous friendly match against Mallorca.
Napoli opened the scoring in the 27th minute after ex-Napoli player David Lopez inadvertently redirected Hirving Lozano’s cross into the back of his own goal. It was the second consecutive match that a Lozano shot resulted in an own goal.
Lozano nearly added an assist in the second half after crossing the ball into the area, but Victor Osimhen’s header crashed into the bar and stayed out.
Osimhen thought he opened the scoring in the opening minutes of the match, but the goal was ruled out for offside. He came close to scoring again in the opening minutes of the second half. André-Frank Zambo Anguissa forced a turnover in the Girona half, but goalkeeper Juan Carlos was quick off his line to stop Osimhen.
Girona equalized in the 57th minute. Substitute Samu Saiz played a delicate chip to pick out the run of Valentin Castellanos, who made an incisive run between the two Napoli centre backs. Castellanos got a slight touch on the ball to beat Alex Meret.
Two Napoli substitutes combined to put Napoli back ahead in the 77th minute. Alessio Zerbin played a diagonal ball to Andrea Petagna in the area. Petagna took two touches before placing a perfect shot, from a tight angle, off the upright and into the back of the goal.
Kvaratskhelia sealed the victory in the 80th minute after drawing a penalty kick on the left side of the area. With Osimhen substituted out, the winger took the penalty himself and calmly placed the ball in the bottom corner to make the score 3-1. Kvaratskhelia was once again voted the man of the match.
Napoli will play their final pre-season friendly on Saturday, August 6th against RCD Espanyol.
[…] Politano walked off the pitch in the 20th minute of Napoli’s friendly against Girona FC, clutching his left calf. On Wednesday, SSC Napoli confirmed that Politano suffered a calf strain, […]