A questionable penalty decision was not enough for Juventus to overcome Alessandro Spavone’s first half brace, as Napoli earned their second victory over the Bianconeri in five days.
Lineup
Nicolò Frustalupi made two changes to the squad he fielded against Milan in the previous round of Primavera 1. Davide Acampa started over Enrico Giannini at left wingback. Meanwhile Jorge Alastuey dropped into the centre of the midfield to play over Gennaro Iaccarino, allowing Bilel Sahli to play as one of the two trequartisti.
(3-4-2-1) Boffelli; Obaretin, Barba, D’Avino; Acampa, Gioielli, Alastuey, Marchisano; Sahli, Spavone; Rossi
First Half
Napoli got off to a quick start, creating their first chance only three minutes into the match. Benedetto Barba played a long ball over the top to Spavone. After one bounce the forward tapped the ball into the path of Rossi in the area. Rossi put a powerful strike on target but caught too much of the goal but goalkeeper Giovanni Daffara kicked the shot away.
Only six minutes later the Azzurrini opened the scoring. Acampa passed to Sahli on the left side of the area. Like he did midweek in the Coppa italia, Sahli drove towards the by line before cutting the ball back into the area. Alastuey hit the ball first time from the spot, and though he didn’t make great contact, Spavone was waiting on the edge of the six yard box to deflect the shot into the bottom corner.
Juventus responded well, creating numerous chances to equalize, but all were shots from outside the area. Tommaso Mancini, Kenan Yildiz and Luis Hasa all watched their efforts from distance miss the target, and in all three cases Valerio Boffelli had his goal covered.
17 year old Joseph Nonge was the Bianconeri’s biggest threat in the first half. In the 11th minute, he raced through the midfield before having a go from distance. The midfielder watched as his shot beat Boffelli but crashed off the bar and stayed out.
Nonge was back at it just past the midway point of the half. The Belgian played a sombrero to get past Francesco Gioielli in the Juventus box. Nonge carried the ball the length of the pitch, outrunning Gioielli with the ball at his feet, before passing to Hasa on his left. The attacking midfielder dribbled into the area before shooting for the bottom corner, but Boffelli made a diving save.
Juventus continued to push for the equalizer but their poor finishing persisted. In the 26th minute, Nicolò Turco dribbled between Acampa and Gioielli before his shot hit the outside of the goal. Ten minutes later, Turco crossed to Mancini at the second post. The striker had a free header but Boffelli was well-positioned to make the save.
Other than two shot attempts – one by Rossi that missed the near post and another by Sahli, from a tight angle, that was stopped by Daffara – Napoli didn’t create any more quality chances until late in the half.
In the 39th minute, Alastuey won a clean slide tackle on Jonas Rouhi in the middle of the park. Rossi picked up the loose ball, carried to the edge of the area and fired a powerful shot on target, but the ball dipped straight into the waiting gloves of Daffara. However, only a minute later, Napoli doubled their lead.
Alastuey played a long switch to Rossi on the right wing. The forward held the ball up, allowing his teammates to catch up to the play. Once again, Napoli rotated the ball around to Sahli on the left side and once again he drove toward the by line before cutting the ball back into the area. This time Spavone was waiting on the doorstep to poke in his second of the match and his fifth of the season.
Juventus had one final chance before the break, but Turco’s volley from the edge of the area was straight at Boffelli and the keeper made another save.
Second Half
Like the first half, Napoli had a very positive start to the second half. Twice within ten minutes of the restart, Rossi got the better of Juventus centre back Lorenzo Dellavalle. The first shot missed the target while the second bounced off the upright and stayed out.
Juventus coach Paolo Montero responded with three changes just before the hour mark, and that seemed to stimulate the Juventus attack. Bayron Strijdonck immediately got involved, slipping the ball through to Yildiz in the area. The Turkey native had only the keeper to beat, but Boffelli was quick off his line to make a sliding save.
Though Napoli tried to get forward, Juventus dominated the final half hour of the match, creating another big chance midway through the second half. Rouhi tested Boffelli with a shot from a tight angle but Boffelli tipped it over the bar. On the ensuing corner kick, another substitute Saverio Domanico won a header from the edge of the six yard box. However, Boffelli made an excellent reaction save, swatting the ball away with his left hand.
The match got worse for the Bianconeri before it got better. In the 70th minute, Montero was shown a straight red card for dissent, so Juventus were forced to play the final 20 minutes without the direction of their coach.
Nevertheless, Juventus got right back into the match a few minutes later. Pasquale Marranzino did a poor job of clearing a Juventus corner kick. Centre back Alessandro Citi was first to the loose ball and his left-footed shot struck the hand of Marranzino in the area. It appeared as though Marranzino’s arm was close to his body but match official Stefano Nicolini awarded the penalty kick. Hasa stepped up to the spot and rolled his shot off the upright and in.
That made for a tense end to the match. Juventus attacked but Napoli resisted, getting bodies in the way of the Bianconeri shots. Juventus’ final quality chance came in the second minute of stoppage time, when Strijdonck hit a powerful shot from the edge of the area, but for the umpteenth time in the match, Boffelli parried the shot away.
Napoli hung on through the final few minutes of stoppage time to earn yet another victory over the Bianconeri. With the win, combined with Atalanta’s 1-2 defeat to Frosinone, Napoli moved back out of the relegation playout zone. The Azzurrini also equaled Milan, who lost the Derby della Madonnina 1-0. As a result, Napoli remained one point behind Inter, who are 12th in the table. The Primavera will be back in action on Friday to take on 6th placed Fiorentina.
