Francesco Gioielli equalized after Michele Masala opened the scoring in the first half, but it wasn’t enough. Moments later, Christos Kourfalidis put Cagliari back ahead en route to a 2-1 victory for the home side.
Nicolo Frustalupi made one change to the squad he fielded against Roma in the previous round. Daniel Hysaj, who recovered from a fractured nasal bone suffered in the opening round of the season against Lecce, started over Daniel Susko in the back three.
Napoli Lineup (3-4-1-2): Boffelli; Hysaj, Obaretin, Barba; Acampa, Gioielli, Iaccarino, Lamine; Marranzino, Spavone; Rossi.
The first half was dominated by Cagliari, who were on the offensive from the opening minute. The Isolani opened the scoring in the 18th minute, after left back Riyad Idrissi crossed the ball into the area. The cross was poorly dealt with by the Napoli defence, and Masala was waiting on the doorstep to tap in his first of the season to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
Cagliari would have doubled their lead had it not been for the heroics of Valerio Boffelli, who made two important saves five minutes before the break. The Napoli goalkeeper made an excellent save on Nicolo Cavuoti, after Hysaj turned the ball over to the Cagliari #10. Moments later Boffelli stretched to keep out the header of Cagliari striker Alessandro Vinciguerra.
The second half was far more competitive. Though Cagliari continued to create chances, Napoli finally generated a few chances of the their own, but luck was not on their side. The Azzurrini hit the frame of the goal twice in the first ten minutes of the second half. First Iaccarino hit the upright after intercepting a pass from Cagliari centre back Davide Veroli. Then, in the 54th minute, Pasquale Marranzino hit the bar with a strike from the edge of the area.
Like in the first half, Cagliari should have doubled their lead in the second half. In the 56th minute, Boffelli saved Luigi Palomba’s on the line. The Cagliari players appealed for the goal but the official deemed that the ball did not cross the line. Just over five minutes later, Adam Griger failed to hit the target while staring at an empty goal. Cagliari thought they had finally doubled their lead in the 75th minute, after Griger was left unmarked in the centre of the penalty area, but his goal was ruled out for a foul in the attack.
Cagliari nearly paid the price for squandering so many quality opportunities. Two minutes after the cancelled goal, Francesco Gioielli equalized with his second goal of the season. The Napoli midfielder headed in from a Marranzino corner kick. However, Cagliari went back ahead only three minutes later. Substitute Christos Kourfalidis pounced on a loose ball in the area and scored his first of the season to make the score 2-1.
With only 10 minutes remaining, Napoli were unable to find a second equalizer. With the 2-1 defeat, Napoli have now lost five out of six matches in Primavera 1, and seven out of eight matches in all competitions.
The Azzurrini will be back in action on Tuesday to play their third match in the Group Stage of the UEFA Nations League against Ajax.
