On Wednesday, Napoli played their first of two friendly matches in Turkey as part of the Winter Football Series by Regnum. The Partenopei took on home side Antalyapor, who were well-supported at the Antalya Arena.
First Half
Lineup (4-2-3-1): Meret; Mario Rui, Di Lorenzo, Østigård, Zanoli; Lobotka, Elmas; Kvaratskhelia, Raspadori, Politano; Osimhen
Napoli jumped out to a quick lead after Giacomo Raspadori picked the pocket of Antalyaspor right back Veysel Sari. The Napoli forward dribbled into the area before curling a shot with pinpoint accuracy around goalkeeper Alperen Uysal and into the top corner.
The Azzurri doubled their lead just over five minutes later, after Mario Rui picked out Victor Osimhen’s run toward the left wing with a ball over the top. Osimhen did well to bring the ball under control before passing to Raspadori, who quickly turned and switched the play to Matteo Politano on the right side of the area. The winger cut in on his favoured left foot before squeezing a low shot past Uysal, who probably should have done better.
Though Napoli raced out to an early lead, it was by no means a dominant performance. and the final result could have been different had Antalyaspor been more clinical. The home side had two quality chances only six minutes apart. In the 17th minute, ex-Sampdoria midfielder Fernando picked out ex-Milan forward Luiz Adriano in the area. However, the Brazilian’s powerful header took a slight deflection before narrowly missing the near post. In the 23rd minute, Soner Aydogdu picked out Güray Vural in the area but the left-back’s volley finished wide of the mark.
Raspadori nearly scored his second of the match at the half hour mark. Napoli pressed high and forced a turnover on the right wing. Alessandro Zanoli’s cross was cleared to Raspadori at the edge of the area. Jack took a touch before striking with his left on the half-volley, but the shot hit the upright and stayed out.
Moments later, Napoli had a momentary scare when Matteo Politano went down holding his right knee. The winger appeared to tweak his knee while chasing the ball on the right wing. After staying down for a while, Politano carried on and finished the half.
Antalyaspor nearly pulled one back in the dying minutes of the half. The Turkish club played out of the back before Houssam Ghacha broke free on the right wing. The winger crossed the ball beyond the outstretched neck of Giovanni Di Lorenzo to pick out Vural for a free shot in the area, but once again the full back failed to hit the target.
With the miss, Napoli went into the break with a two-goal advantage.
Second Half
Lineup (3-4-2-1): Meret; Hysaj, Østigård, Zanoli; Zedadka, Demme, Ndombele, Zerbin; Gaetano, Raspadori; Simeone
Luciano Spalletti made seven changes at the break and experimented with a new formation, playing Raspadori as one of the two trequartisti in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
The clubs exchanged chances early in the second half. Moments after Fernando’s free kick finished narrowly over the bar, Raspadori picked out Ndombele at the edge of the Antalyaspor area. The Frenchman’s shot was destined for the top corner, but Uysal was well-positioned to make the save.
Antalyaspor were first to score in the second half. Adriano countered in the 55th minute, after Alessio Zerbin overcommitted for the ball. Adriano carried to the edge of the area before squaring to Admir Mehmedi, who calmly slotted his first-time shot into the bottom corner.
Napoli responded five minutes later, once again forcing a turnover with the high press. Tanguy Ndombele played a lovely no-look pass to Raspadori on the left side of the area. Once again Raspadori picked his spot, restoring Napoli’s two-goal lead with a curling shot into the side netting at the far post.
That was Raspadori’s final contribution of the match, as he was replaced by Primavera midfielder Alessandro Spavone in the 76th minute. At the same time, Spalletti replaced Alex Meret with Davide Marfella.
Moments before those changes, Giovanni Simeone came close to scoring Napoli’s fourth after Zerbin intercepted the ball in the final third. El Cholito beat Uysal but not the upright.
Spalletti made his final substitutions in the 81st minute, replacing Østigård and Zanoli with Primavera players Benedetto Barba and Matteo Marchisano, respectively. Thus, Napoli closed the match with four current Primavera players (Hysaj, Spavone, Barba and Marchisano) and three former Primavera players (Marfella, Gaetano and Zerbin).
During that period, Antalyaspor scored their second goal of the match. In the 85th minute, Zerbin fouled Erkan Eyibil on the edge of the area. Antalyaspor captain Hakan Özmert took the direct free kick and curled a powerful strike past Marfella and into the top corner.
The match official generously allowed four minutes of stoppage time, but it was Napoli who came closest to scoring, with multiple chances in the dying minutes of the match. In the end, the Partenopei held on for the 3-2 victory.
Post Match
Luciano Spalletti addressed the media in his post-match press conference.
“It wasn’t a very easy match. The pitch slipped a lot and it was difficult to stand. The more technical players had difficulties. Ndombele did well because of his size. In some moments we didn’t do things as a team, we played individually with 2-3 players. For example, we didn’t press high as a team. If we repeat this against strong teams, we will be punished. I liked many things, including when the ball is spun with the speed the team has shown by now they are capable of and when dribbling and attacking impulses are given in depth. These are things we have in our itinerary and that we have reviewed. Di Lorenzo was the usual Di Lorenzo, just in another role.”
