[insert quick intro paragraph. Here are three takeaways selected by Forza Napoli Press.
Breaking Through the Low Block
Davide Nicola confirmed the rumours that Salernitana could switch to a back four. He lined up in an ultra-conservative 4-5-1 formation, determined to prevent a repeat of the Granata’s previous result, when they conceded eight goals to Atalanta. Napoli were patient in the buildup, but the occasional forced pass suggested the frustration was building as the first half progressed. Luciano Spalletti countered by directing his full backs to get forward, thereby removing the numerical disadvantage in the final third. That tactic proved to be effective.
In the 34th minute, Giovanni Di Lorenzo joined the attack and came within inches of assisting the opening goal of the match. The Napoli captain redirected a firm pass from Eljif Elmas perfectly into the path of Victor Osimhen, who blasted the ball past Guillermo Ochoa at the near post. However, the goal, which was not dissimilar to Osimhen’s winner against Roma, was canceled after a VAR review showed the striker was fractionally offside. 13 minutes later, Di Lorenzo found himself on the other end of André-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s low ball into the area. Di Lorenzo made no mistake, firing the ball off the underside of the bar and in. The defender thus scored his first of the Serie A campaign with the final kick of the first half.
Feed the Beast
Victor Osimhen doubled Napoli’s lead three minutes into the second half. Like against Juventus, the Napoli No. 9 was in the right place at the right time to tap in the rebound after Eljif Elmas hit the upright. With the goal, Osimhen remained the league’s top goal-scorer, though Ademola Lookman reduced the gap with a brace against Juventus on Sunday. Since returning from a thigh injury in October, Osimhen has averaged just over a goal a match, scoring 11 goals in 10 league appearances. He could have scored another had it not been for the ongoing heroics of Guillermo Ochoa, who denied Osimhen on two separate occasions.
Shot-Stopper
With Napoli controlling the run of play and dominating possession of the ball, Salernitana’s chances were few and far between. The Granata’s best chance came in the 83rd minute, when Stanislav Lobotka conceded possession at the edge of the Napoli area. Krzysztof Piątek put a low strike on target but Alex Meret, who had next to nothing to do up until that point, got enough of the ball to parry it off the upright and out.
With Napoli up 2-0, a Salernitana goal would have made for a tense conclusion to the match. Instead, Spalletti made three substitutions and Napoli coasted to victory. Sidenote: those were Spalletti’s first changes of the match. Perhaps he learned his lesson from Napoli’s midweek Coppa Italia defeat to Cremonese, or perhaps he considered that Napoli had to that point exerted little energy and did not have a midweek fixture ahead.
For Meret, it was his 10th clean sheet in all competitions. The Napoli shot-stopper has played every single minute of every single match this season. Of course, clean sheets are not solely attributable to the goalkeeper. They’re also a result of the play of the those in front of the keeper, both in the possession phase – Napoli generally have most of the ball – and in non-possession, i,e. defense. With Juventus conceding eight goals in their last two matches – five of which were scored by Napoli – the Azzurri now have the best defensive record in the league.
