Romina Pinna scored a 90th minute winner against in her home town, as Napoli Femminile won their fifth match in six to remain top of the Serie B Femminile table.
Lineup
With Michela Franco and Lucia Strisciuglio not fully fit, Dimitri Lipoff made no changes to the squad he fielded against Ternana. However, he made a slight tweak in the midfield, playing Giulia Ferrandi in the centre and Claudia Mauri on the left.
Match
Both sides pressed high early in the match and forced a lot of turnovers and stoppages in play. As a result, the first half was somewhat disjointed and neither side created many opportunities to score.
Adriana Gomes, who formerly played for Sassari Torres, had Napoli’s two best chances of the half. The first was a sliding effort that lacked the power needed to beat Torres goalkeeper Katarzyna Siejka. The second effort, just past the half-hour mark, had more power but lacked accuracy, hitting the outside of the goal.
Napoli increased the intensity and pressure in the second half, especially after Romina Pinna replaced Mauri midway through the half. That substitution facilitated a change in formation to a 4-2-3-1.
Though Napoli seemed the most likely to score, Torres had the best chance of the match five minutes before time. Winger Angelica Poli crossed the ball into the area from the right side. The ball fell to Morena Iannazzo in the area. The forward had a free shot but her low effort finished just wide of the far post.
Napoli had one last chance in the final minute of normal time after Paola Di Marino won a free kick on the right side of the midfield. Ferrandi played a desperate long ball into the area and it fell kindly to Pinna, who made no mistake, firing a shot straight into the middle of the goal.
With only stoppage time left to play, the Partenopee held on for the 0-1 victory – Napoli’s fifth win in six matches this season. With the win, Napoli remained level with Lazio at the top of the Serie B Femminile table, now on 16 points. Cittadella are one point behind after their 3-1 victory over San Marino.
The Femminile will be back in action on November 6th with a trip to Cesena, who are currently fourth in the table.
Post-Match
Having scored the decisive winner, Pinna addressed the media after the match.
“Scoring goals here in Sardinia, in front of relatives and friends, has a special value for me. It is a precious success that keeps us at the top of the standings, which gives continuity to the victory achieved against Ternana and which launches us, with great enthusiasm, towards another difficult trip like that of Cesena.”
