Elisa Del Estal’s first of the season was not enough after local rivals Pomigliano equalized from a questionable penalty decision. With the draw, Napoli existed the competition due to an inferior goal differential (+1) than Pomigliano (+5).
Lineup
With Dimitri Lipoff suspended after Napoli’s Coppa Italia Matchday 1 meeting with Tavagnacco, Pasquale Illiano stepped in to manage the Napoli bench. The Napoli staff made nine changes to the squad they fielded against Lazio, with only Melissa Nozzi and Aurora De Sanctis remaining in the starting XI.
Antonia Dulcic, Martina Di Bari and Federica Veritti were all kept out of the squad for precautionary reasons. Meanwhile, December signing Valentina Puglisi and youngsters Carmina Botta and Giulia Miglionico were granted their first starts of the season.
Match
Napoli opened the scoring after an uneventful opening quarter of the match. The Partenopee struck with a devastating c0unter attack from a Pomigliano corner kick. Serena Landa dropped to receive the clearance before launching Lucia Strisciuglio down the left side of the midfield. The Napoli No. 10 played a perfectly-weighted through-ball to Del Estal in the area. Del Estal calmly dribbled around the challenge of Pomigliano goalkeeper Fabiana Fierro before slotting in her first of the season.
Pomigliano were quick to respond, creating two chances before the break. First, Virginia Di Giammarino tried her luck from distance, but the strike was always rising over the bar.
Then, moments before the break, Verena Amorim tested Matilde Copetti from a very tight angle, but the goalkeeper parried the shot away. Ex-Napoli player Martina Fusini attempted an acrobatic overhead kick on the rebound, but the shot bounced harmlessly out for a goal kick.
Both coaches changed their tactics at the break. Pomigliano coach Gerardo Alfano switched to a very attack-minded 4-2-3-1, while Illiano switched to a very defense-minded 4-1-4-1.
Pomigliano created the first chance of the second half, 15 minutes after the restart. Another ex-Napoli player, Ana Martinez, played a sombrero over Botta before firing on target, but Copetti stretched to tip the shot over the bar.
A minute later, Del Estal won possession from a long ball before slipping it through to Landa. She made a lovely turn at the edge of the area but left-footed striker finished over the bar.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the 70th minute, with Debora Novellino playing Amorin into the area. The striker had only Copetti to beat but her shot caught too much of the goal and Copetti made the save.
The big moment of the match came five minutes later, when Paola Di Marino was adjudged to have elbowed Amorin in the Napoli area. Not only were Pomigliano awarded a penalty kick, but Di Marino was shown her second yellow card of the match. Amorin took the penalty herself, beating Copetti to level the score at one.
Even with ten women, Napoli nearly went back ahead. Botta picked out Del Estal in the area with a cross from the right wing. The Spaniard rose up to win the header but the ball bounced inches wide of the bottom corner.
Pomigliano had the final chance of the match with a free kick in stoppage time. Substitute Alice Corelli went direct for goal from 25 yards and beat Copetti, but not the upright.
With the draw, both clubs finished the group stage on four points. However, because Pomigliano trounced Tavagnacco 6-1, the Granata advanced to the knockout stage with a superior goal differential. For the third consecutive Coppa Italia, Napoli were eliminated from the Group Stage on goal differential.
The Femminile will be back in action on Sunday with an important match against Cittadella.
Post-Match
Pasquale Illiano addressed the media after the match.
“We are sorry for not making it through but also very proud of how the match went and for how our young girls behaved starting from Botta and Miglionico. This match gives us important certainties in the championship perspective because we know from today that we can rely on all the girls in the group because even those who have played less so far have understood perfectly what we are asking of them and have been ready. Now we have two tough away games in the league but the positive responses from this match against Pomigliano are an important piece of baggage to take with us”
[…] previous league match against Lazio. Despite being eliminated from the Coppa Italia with a draw to Pomigliano, Lipoff kept a number of his non-regular starters in his starting […]