An early penalty kick for Brescia did not slow Napoli down, as the Partenopee roared back with a poker from four different goalscorers to return to winning ways.
Lineup
Dimitri Lipoff made one change to the squad he fielded in the Partenopee’s first loss of the season, starting Romina Pinna over Serena Landa in Napoli’s front three. Lipoff also changed the shape of his attack, playing Tamborini as a No. 10, behind Pinna and Adriana Gomes.
Match
Napoli fell behind early in the match after the official awarded Brescia a rather soft penalty for a slight shove by Paola Di Marino in the area. Luana Merli stepped up to the spot and picked the bottom corner to give Brescia the lead.
The Partenopee responded incredibly well, scoring twice within seven minutes of falling behind. In the 14th minute, Sara Tui collected the loose ball on the left side of the area after Adriana Gomes overhit a cross intended for Romina Pinna. Tui played the ball back to Giulia Ferrandi, whose first-time hit with her left boot curled around goalkeeper Sara Ferrari and into the back of the goal.
The pair were also involved in Napoli’s second goal, after Ferrandi won a free kick in a dangerous area a minute later. Tui went direct for goal and picked the top corner, curling her shot off the upright and in.
Napoli were exceptional from the set piece, doubling their lead in the 67th minute from another free kick. On this occasion, Martina Di Bari won a free kick near the touchline on the right side of the midfield. Ferrandi played an inswinging cross into the area, where Gomes attacked the ball and head it into the top corner.
Just as Napoli responded well in the first half, Brescia responded well in the second half. Four minutes after Gomes scored her fifth in Serie A (and seventh in all competitions), Luana Merli scored her second of the match. Somehow Merli’s speculative effort from the left edge of the area snuck past Sabrina Tasselli at the near post.
The goal left Brescia just under twenty minutes to equalize, but Napoli put the match away with less than five minutes left to play. Once again the goal came from a set piece. Gomes drew a foul in a dangerous area after a lovely turn and dribble in the midfield. Claudia Mauri took the free kick and caught Ferrari cheating towards the right side of the goal. The Napoli midfielder put her shot up and over the wall and into the bottom corner, restoring Napoli’s two goal lead.
With the win, combined with Cesena’s 3-1 loss to Ternana, Napoli moved up to third in the table. With Cittadella’s 3-0 win over Genoa and Lazio’s 3-1 win over Apulia Trani, Napoli remained level with Cittadella (now on 19 points), three points back of Lazio.
The Femminile will be back in action On November 27th to take on Hellas Verona, who currently rank 11th in the Serie B table.
Post-Match
Mauri addressed the media after the match.
“We had to react after Cesena and we did so by demonstrating that we are a cohesive and valuable group. Now let’s start from here, always keeping the summit in our sights. We won against a vigorous Brescia that doesn’t deserve the ranking they have. I think we’re finding a way to play that suits our characteristics. The goal makes me happy because I went through a particular personal period and I’ve been looking for it for a while. However, I’m obviously happier with the result we’ve achieved.”
Forza! Now let’s get real kits on them please 💙🤍💙💥⚽🌋